Manitoba's nutraceutical and functional food industry will benefit from an investment of $4 million from Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD) towards the establishment of a new applied research and product development center at the Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals .

The funding was announced today by Reg Alcock, President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board, on behalf of Stephen Owen, Minister of Western Economic Diversification and Minister of State (Sport).

"The Government of Canada is proud to invest in a project that will not only provide Manitobans with healthy food choices, but also continue to diversify our agricultural sector and promote technological advances," said Minister Alcock. "Through this centre, the University of Manitoba and its partners are helping Manitobans improve their quality of life."

This new centre, located in Smartpark 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.

The Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals is one of the newest additions to a cluster of functional food science and development in Manitoba. Other key partners working on this initiative include the Cereal Research Centre (CRC), the National Centre for Agri-food Research in Medicine (NCARM) 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. Emoke Szathmáry, 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."

Functional foods and nutraceuticals are becoming globally recognized as an area of significant importance within the food industry. Current world consumption of functional foods, nutraceuticals and natural health products is estimated at $70 billion annually and has been projected to reach $500 billion by 2010.

WD is the federal department mandated to develop Western Canada's economy through initiatives that advance innovation, entrepreneurship and sustainable communities.

Federal funding was provided for in the February 2005 Budget.

For additional information, contact:

Mark Gale
Communications Manager
Western Economic Diversification Canada
Tel: (204) 983-0789

Renée Gillen
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Western Economic
Diversification and Minister of State (Sport)
Tel: (613) 954-1110

Greg MacEachern
Director of Communications
Office of the President of the Treasury Board
(613) 957-2666

Chris Rutkowski
Media Relations Coordinator
University of Manitoba
(204) 474-9514