Capabilities for Functional Food Research

The Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals has a special interest in research directed towards value-added functional foods and nutraceuticals which offer health promotion, performance enhancement, as well as disease prevention and management.

The Centre is available to the agri-food, natural health product, and pharmaceutical industries to determine structure, function, efficacy, and safety of functional foods and nutraceuticals as well as evaluate products in controlled animal and human studies for potential health claims and palatability.

If you are developing a functional food or nutraceutical product or formulation, the Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals has expertise and equipment to move from lab through mini-scale to pilot plant to ensure processes are fully scaleable and optimal for commercial activity. The Centre possesses research expertise and equipment directed to:

• Bio-active identification, functionality, and enhancement;

• Bio-active extraction and product formulation;

• Bio-active and formulated product safety and efficacy; consumer acceptability;

• Product and market valuation and development, business planning and supply chain optimization.

Research and development capabilities are all encompassing and include fully equipped genomic, analytical and proteomic, cell and tissue culture, clinical research animal trial, human clinical trial (Richardson Centre Clinical Research Unit), formulation development and nutraceutical manufacturing, and pilot plant bioprocessing units. The experience and credibility of scientists in tandem with a fully equipped facility make it possible to define the health claim for each functional food or nutraceutical developed through the Centre with an ‘enhanced function claim’ and / or a ‘disease reduction claim,’ which is critically important for the reputation of your company and ultimately consumer acceptance of your product