How is the oil processed?

We first remove free fatty acids and phospholipids (sometimes referred to as ‘gums’) from the algae oil, both of which will spoil the oil unless they are removed. We do this by combining the oil first with sodium hydroxide to remove the free fatty acids, followed by citric acid to remove the phospholipids. Extensive water washing and analytical testing ensures we remove the last traces of sodium hydroxide and citric acid. We follow this with a bleaching step, not with chemical bleaching agents, but rather by using natural earth clays. We typically employ Montmorillonite, which are incredibly porous silicates that will bind to trace metals, color bodies, etc resulting in an even cleaner, purer, and more stable oil. Finally, we deodorize the oil in a process that sparges steam through the oil, under vacuum, to strip out any unpleasant odors and/or flavors.