Fish Oil Supplement on Health Food Store Shelves.

If salmon and tuna don't excite your taste buds, the notion of tasting fish oil probably brings tears to your eyes.

Some experts, though, say if you snooze on eating any of these fishy foods, you are losing out on Omega-3, an essential fatty acid that may reduce the risk for certain afflictions, such as heart disease, diabetes and arthritis.

If Carlsbad-based dietary supplement maker European Reference Botanical Laboratories (ERBL) has its way, consumers will gladly take in Omega-3 every day.

ERBL recently began selling an Omega-3 supplement that is equal to that found in a small serving of salmon, but doesn't taste fishy at all.

Coromega, initially developed by Norwegian scientist Dr. Johan Myhre to entice his granddaughter with a good-tasting fish oil, comes in an orange-flavored, daily-dose package that can be squeezed into the mouth or mixed with foods.

In San Diego, the product is now sold at the following health food stores: Henry's Marketplace, Great Earth Vitamins, Oceanside Nutrition, Cream of the Crop in Oceanside and Vitamin Village in Vista, said an ERBL spokeswoman.

Coromega is available in two package sizes: a box of 14 packets costs $9.95 and a box of 28 packets runs $17.95, according to ERBL.

Nancy Hughey, San Diego regional buyer at Henry's Marketplace, said the health food chain decided to carry Coromega because of its taste and user-friendliness.

"The taste is very good. You wouldn't even know it's a fish oil," Hughey said.

Douglas Bibus, an Omega-3 scientist at the University of Minnesota and member of ERBL's scientific advisory board, said most Americans consume between 30 milligrams and 50 milligrams of Omega-3 a day. He recommends daily dose of 700 milligrams.

Bibus, who has been studying the role of Omega-3 in treating a variety of disease tar gets, including depression, schizophrenia an Crohn's disease, finds Omega-3 plays an essential role in regulating the body's immune response system.

"No one in this country eats enough Omega 3," he said. He added that San Diego's proximity to the ocean may equal a higher concentration of seafood consumption in the region.

Food supplements are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. Bibus said h is not aware of any negative findings involving Coromega.

However, people who take blood thinner should ask their doctors for advice before taking Omega-3 supplements, he said.

Bibus has no proprietary interest in the company, said Frank Morley, chief operating officer at ERBL.

ERBL, a unit of Vista-based Extracts Plus Inc., which sells botanical extracts to companies, was established in May 1999 and has 2 employees, Morley said.