Question About Krill Oil and vitacost.com
 

In my last order from vitacost.com, I got 3 bottles (180 pills) of Jarrow Formulas PhosphOmega Krill Oil. This batch has a strong, unpleasant smell. I've taken a few doses without ill effects, but I wonder if the oil has gone rancid or is bad.

Jarrow Krill Oil is one of my usual supplements. I have not experienced odor problems in the past. I e-mailed vitacost.com customer service, but they have not responded.

Should I toss them out and re-order? Should I attempt to get vitacost to make good on the order? Is a strong smell maybe not a sign of anything?

Advice?

Gee, my krill oil has no odor at all. I use MegaRed by Schiff.

I'd pursue Vitacost still. What is the expiration on it?
It could have been stored in a hot environment.

Expiration is 08/2012.

No problem with my previous orders of the same product.

If you have had it before and it didn't smell odd, then there is something wrong.

Jarrow has a customer line which I have called them on personally. You might get them to replace it faster than Vitacost.

You can contact them online and give the lot # etc .

http://www.jarrow.com/contact_us.php

My previous experience with them was positive. (I just asked about availability of a product that seemed out of stock all the time).

Oils that are rancid are not safe to consume-- free radicals and all.

This morning, I sent an e-mail to Jarrow. I'll follow tomorrow by phone.

Thanks, mrsD.

I wish they could just shoot this stuff into me IV. My stomach is so sensitive. Supplements make me very nauseated. It is discouraging! Let alone something that smells bad!

You can get things IV... will cost alot more, and only certain doctors do it that way. But it is possible.

Are these gel capsules? Is it possible that one has broken/punctured, releasing the contents (and smell)? I've had some fish oil capsules in the past that were fine (maybe a slight odor in the bottle) until one broke in the bottle... then WHEW! STINKO! It also made the rest of them oily/greasy, which may be a further clue.

Unfortunately you can't wash the rest of them off once this happens!

I don't know if that's what's happened or not - just something to consider.

Doc

Softgels, but no broken ones.

In order to take this stuff, I have to pop the softgel and put the goo on apple sauce or pudding....beeeeyuk. I also have to chew my potassium pill, since it is so honking big, I can't swallow it. I have to 'work up to' it every day.

It would be great if there was some company that did custom formulas....you just check the box for what you want, and they mix it and you put it in a smoothie....hmmm....smoothie....there is an idea! If it came pre-packaged in a smoothie for ease....hmm.

I will dump this stuff in a smoothie. Now I need a new blender. Caring for myself is too big of a job....I have others to care for!:o

There have been two major recalls from Big Pharm (McNeil and Pfizer) who used empty plastic containers that somehow absorbed a terrible chemical (fungicide) from storage, and when they were filled with drug, and sealed, the fumes reacted with the contents and bingo...

The first recalls for Tylenol etc products started 2 yrs ago, and
the recent Lipitor by Pfizer was just a few days ago.

It is possible the empty plastic jars used by Jarrow had a similar problem.

Any weird off odors coming off drugs when you open the bottle should be returned and not used.

This could be more than a leaky capsule or broken one. It could also be rancid odors from being stored in temps that are high.
One never knows what happens during transit etc.

Just spoke to Jarrow Customer Service. They refuse to do anything about it. They suggest going back to the retailer — in this case vitacost.com.

That is interesting.... if it were a storage problem after it left Jarrow it would be Vitacost's problem.

But they would be hesitant to admit if it came from them...I bet.

I hope you continue to pursue this. It is an important situation.

I have the feeling that I'm for the free-market run around.

That's actually a pretty good idea. Right now all my "pills" get sorted into a couple of those tubes with the days of the week on them, and then I have to swallow 1-4 at a time before and with meals - it gets worse all the time.

Only thing is we still gotta take that B-12 on empty... and I'm off anything I could make a smoothie from. Some of these would taste terrible ground/mixed up anyway...

Ya got me thinkin' though...

Doc

UPDATE: vitacost.com & Krill Oil
 

vitacost.com sent me an authorization number so that I can return all the "bad" krill oil. They said they will refund the krill oil (not the shipping).

This is not such a bad outcome. A hassle for me, but still . . . .

Well that is good. It is difficult to recover shipping. Did they offer to send another with free shipping? Or do you have to pay for that?

You might try using another seller... iherb.com is my favorite.
I have never gotten a damaged thing from them, and in fact their packaging is thoughtful. For example the ribose they send in a ziploc bag! Glass bottles always with bubble wrap around them.
And their shipping is not expensive either.

Around Xmas before Jan 1st they often have a special order time with discounts and incentives to buy... since they do their inventory control then.

Here is a link to the various choices of Krill Oil from iherb...I see all orders over $40.00 are free shipping too right now!
So I might be getting my stuff soon.

http://www.iherb.com/Search?kw=krill+oil#p=2&sr=0

The MegaRed I use is often on sale at Costco... I just paid $12.95 for 90 with a 5.00 in house coupon, so I bought 3.
MegaRed is 300mg/cap. I usually take 2 of those.

I decided to make an order, and for a 52.00 order I got 5.20 off the already low prices, + free shipping! (r-lipoic and benfotiamine and 2 others that I usually get). So it came to $46.81. That is pretty good for those items! Those four items last me 4 months or more, so that works out to 10.00 a month! I think that is a huge savings!

That's not right, and so short sighted, as they may lose a customer/future business over a piddling shipping charge. Some "discount" outlets try to justify it by saying their prices are so low, yadda, yadda... But bad product is bad product. General business practice is, if a customer chooses to return an item because they changed their mind, or some other reason that's their choice, shipping usually isn't refunded (depending on company, size of order, etc. Some will anyway.) But for defective product? It sounds to me like they're essentially saying they're not taking responsibility.

More than the krill oil stinks.

Doc

Thanks so much, mrsD! You are making me a better shopper (in addition to the numerous other ways in which knowing you here has improved my life).

You can count on me for shopping advice! I have become an expert at it! In order to do supplements you need:

1) quality and assurance of content and safety issues

2) you need to be able to afford them.

I shop around and find the best deals. At one time there were 3 of us taking many (my son for his ADHD). Hubby is only using a senior vitamin, flax oil, fishoil and Vit D--sometimes he uses ginseng but not always, now.
But I do consume alot of them, and many are costly types.

iherb has consistently improved to carry so many brand names, at wonderful prices, and then they give you discounts on top of it and free shipping ...you really cannot beat them IMO. The others like vitacost etc, are copycats.

Costco has also been a good spot for me, because they have quality products too. NatureMade for example. I get my generic SlowMag called Mag 64 there, for $5.00 a month! Can't beat that! (pharmacy there orders it for me) They started carrying the MegaRed just over a year ago. SAM's has good prices and so does WalMart. WalMart is a good local place for people living outside metro areas with few stores and who cannot get online. You can get quality whey protein in small containers at WalMart very reasonably, for example!

So yes, I feel obligated to share my $$ saving tips here. I do them myself! ;)