Integrated business: From fish oils to the product
Mechanism of Short Path Distillation (SPD)
As the crude fish oil enters the high-temperature tank(250°C), the dioxins in the crude fish oil, separated from the purified oil by evaporization and the surface of the inner cxlinder (70°C) .

The Kashima Plant, which took three years to construct from 2006, has commenced full-scale operations. The plant mainly conducts the primary distillation and the ethyl esterification of fish oils; these are then transterred to the Tsukuba Plant, where the EPA is concentrated and purified and turned into "EPA-E NISSUI," the pharmaceutical ingredient of Epadel. The Kashima Plant has adopted the Short Path Distillation (SPD) method and the continuous esterification process, which marks the first time such methods have been applied to fish oils. This is followed by the continuous purification process, a process developed by Nissui, at the Tsukuba Plant, which results in the production of the safe and high-quality pharmaceutical ingredient, EPA. By combining these technologies we have been able to eliminate dioxins contained in fish oils to levels lower than those found in tap water. This technology is expected to work to our advantage with the expansion of the market in the future.

Also by using the byproduct of the distillation process, Nissui has become the first in world to produce fish cholesterol compliant with food additive standards. Currently much of the world’s cholesterol is manufactured from wool grease (the fat that adheres to the roots of sheep's wool). However, since the outbreak of mad cow disease, expectations are high for a marine product-based cholesterol. Possible uses for this type of cholesterol include infant formula, cosmetics, and additives used in shrimp farming, and Nissui is currently in various stages of negotiations with its customers.

The dioxin-containing residue that remains after distillation is being used as fuel to run the plant's thermal fluid boilers. Since the boilers combust at temperatures reaching 800ºC, the dioxins are broken down. In other words, through this process we are making contributions toward ridding the earth of dioxins.

Yoichi Sekiguchi, Executive Officer and Commissioned General Manager of the Fine Chemicals Operations Dept., states, "Previously the Fine Chemicals Operations Dept. had been mainly involved in the businesses of EPA as pharmaceutical ingredients and functional lipids. However, with completion of the Kashima Plant, our business field has expanded enormously."

Orange roughy oil, which is manufactured by purifying the subcutaneous fat of orange roughy, a deep-water fish caught off of New Zealand, is already being produced as an ingredient for cosmetics. This fish is caught by Sealord Group, Ltd. in New Zealand, a Nissui Global Links member, and the oil, which is non-greasy and low in molecular weight, may be used as a cosmetic ingredient in creams and lotions. In Japan, Nissui is the sole manufacturer of this product. Orange roughy oil, which is already being exported to the U.S., is expected to further expand its sales through various sales channels both in Japan and overseas.

In order to deal with Nissui's expansion into new business domains, the Food Function Research Center, which had been involved in the research of food functions at the head office, was renamed the Human Life Science R&D Center.

This move was geared to "expand the scope of the research center so that its research would not be limited to 'Food' but cover the entire spectrum of functions related to 'Living' such as cosmetics, and thereby pursue further applications in line with the expansion of Nissui's business domain." (Yoichi Sekiguchi, Executive Officer)

Tomoko Tsuji, Head of the Human Life Science R&D Center explained, "At the moment, we are mainly involved in the research of phospholipids derived from krill. The phospholipids that are currently available on the market, such as soy lecithin, are derived from such sources as soybeans and thus contain no DHA or EPA. Therefore, expectations should be particularly high for phospholipids derived from marine products, which are rich in DHA."