Bio-processing facility for studying nutraceuticals receives $4M support

Winnipeg, MB – A new applied research and product development centre at the Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals has received $4-million funding from Western Economic Diversification Canada.

The new centre, located at the University of Manitoba, will focus on several steps in the research and development of food supplements extracted from crops grown in the prairie region – from identifying useful compounds in plants, enhancing these compounds, developing ways to process and incorporate them into food products and considering the consumer acceptability of the final products.

Researchers from different disciplines will work in partnership with up to 40 scientists from the faculties of agriculture and food sciences, human ecology, and medicine and pharmacy to develop functional foods based on scientific evidence that will test their efficiency and safety for consumer consumption.

Other partners include the Cereal Research Centre, the National Centre for Agri-food Research in Medicine and the Food Development Centre in Portage La Prairie.

“As functional foods and nutraceuticals grow in popularity with consumers, it is essential that research and development on these products be supported,” says Dr Emke Szathmry, University of Manitoba president and vice-chancellor. “I am very pleased that Western Economic Diversification is providing this funding for a bioprocessing facility at the Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals, which will conduct applied research to assist small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) in product development and marketing, ultimately benefiting Canadian consumers.”