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September
16,
2005 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Agri-Food Research and Development
Initiative (ARDI) is investing $1.25 million in the University of
Manitoba’s Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and
Nutraceuticals, funding key technical and operations positions at
the centre over the next five years.
“Supporting research and development into ways
that food and food products can promote and maintain good health is
a priority theme for the ARDI Council,” said ARDI Chair David
Gislason. “With science behind them, western Canadian producers will
be in an excellent position to tap into the growing international
market for natural nutritional products.”
“This funding further promotes the partnership
between health and Manitoba’s agri-food and nutraceutical sectors,”
said Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives Minister Rosann
Wowchuk. “Science has shown us the medicinal values found in many of
the crops produced here. Expanding on this science will create
long-range benefits for the people of Manitoba and throughout the
world.”
“Strategic investments in science and innovation
are key to providing Canadian producers with new markets and
opportunities,” said Winnipeg South Centre MP Anita Neville on
behalf of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Minister Andy Mitchell.
“Functional foods and nutraceuticals offer increased options for
prairie crop use, and research and development in this area will
help keep Canada a world leader in agri-food products.”
The Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and
Nutraceuticals will focus on products derived from crops important
to the prairie region, including oats, wheat, buckwheat, canola,
flax and hemp. The centre will bring together researchers from
different disciplines, as well as industry partners, to develop
functional foods and nutraceuticals that have been rigorously
examined and proven to be effective and safe.
“It is a pleasure to acknowledge ARDI’s
important commitment to the University of Manitoba as it has
provided tremendous support towards key research and development
initiatives in agriculture and agri-food sciences at the university
and in this province. With the newest funding announced today for
the Richardson Centre for Functional Foods, ARDI is again backing
our university's commitment to provide a first-class education to
our students and to undertake research of great significance in the
area of functional foods and nutraceuticals," said Emőke Szathmáry,
president and vice-chancellor of the University of Manitoba.
ARDI is a research and development granting
program of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Manitoba
Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives. It is funded through the
Agricultural Policy Framework, a federal-provincial-territorial
long-term action plan for agriculture.
The $1.25 million in funding, announced this
morning at a news conference outside the new centre at the Fort
Garry Campus, is in addition to more than $4 million that ARDI has
put towards functional foods and nutraceutical projects in the past.
For
more information, please contact:
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David Gislason
Chair, ARDI Council
Ph: (204) 376-5578
Cell: (204) 641-1755 |
Digvir
Jayas
Interim
Director,
Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals
Ph: (204) 474-9787
Cell: (204) 797-2421
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