The governments of Canada and Manitoba are investing over $1.3 million at the Canadian Centre for Agri-Food Research in Health and Medicine (CCARM).

A new million dollar Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imager has been installed at the Winnipeg facility. Another $340,000 will create a new position for a health economist at the University of Winnipeg.

“This is a new area of research that attempts to determine the economic benefits that might result from people eating healthy foods,” said Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler.  “Manitoba continues to be a leader in research related to food and health.  This new investment will help to solidify our reputation in this field and, more generally, in agricultural innovation.  This is an exciting look to the future as we continue to learn more about how all of these areas are interconnected.”

CCARM is a unique unit within the St. Boniface Hospital Research Centre that leads scientific and clinical studies about the connections between food and health.

Over the next two years, the research project will focus on ‘nutrition economics’, evaluating the links between food-based natural health products, the health-care system and the agri-food sector.

“The NMR will allow our researchers to identify new markers of disease and identify compounds responsible for the flavour of our food,” said Dr. Grant Pierce, executive director of research for St. Boniface Hospital.  “The new research position will allow us to produce exciting new data on the economic impact of our research on functional foods and nutraceuticals.  It’s information that the public, the government and our funders want to know.”

Funding for the NMR imager is provided through the Grain Innovation Hub.