BioLab Business Fall 2022

APPLICATION NOTE

CRYSTAL

PAPER DREAMS

Research into thinner-than-paper carbon-based electronics opens new ways of living in the world— and it isn’t science fiction anymore

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PUBLISHER & CEO Christopher J. Forbes cforbes@dvtail.com

MANAGING EDITOR Sean Tarry starry@dvtail.com

COPY EDITOR Mitchell Brown

CONTRIBUTORS Shelby Hautala Robert Price David Suzuki Emmanuelle Toussaint

SENIOR Marlene Mignardi ACCOUNT mmignardi@dvtail.com EXECUTIVE

ART DIRECTOR Sharon MacIntosh smacintosh@dvtail.com

SECRETARY/ Susan A. Browne TREASURER

MARKETING Stephanie Wilson MANAGER swilson@dvtail.com

PRODUCTION Crystal Himes MANAGER chimes@dvtail.com

SOLVING THE WORLD’S PROBLEMS WITH NEW MATERIALS

Thepast two-and-a-half-plus years has been a difficult and challenging time for most. It’s been a period of time riddled with disruption and uncertainty, inconvenience and hardship. Despite the severity of the impacts caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic, however, it’s also been a time that’s served to elicit a greater awareness among the general public concerning environmental, social, and governance-related issues.

The tapestry of issues is lengthy and includes a potential food shortage; the inevitable outbreak of further communicable diseases: the need to create more efficient, cost-effective, and accessible medical treatments for the masses; an environment that’s becoming ever more polluted, and the depletion of Earth’s natural resources, to name but a few. They are, each one, monumental challenges on their own. However, they can also each, despite the disparity of their causes and impacts, be addressed and conquered through the use of new materials and biotechnology.

Within this issue of BioLab Business, we explore some of the innovators and trailblazers who are breaking new ground, uncovering discoveries, and advancing scientific research in efforts to create a better human condition.

BioLab Business is published 4 times per year by Jesmar Communications Inc., 30 East Beaver Creek Rd., Suite 202, Richmond Hill, Ontario L4B 1J2 905.886.5040 Fax: 905.886.6615 www.BioLabmag.com One year subscription: Canada $35, US $35 and foreign $95. Single copies $9. Please add GST/HST where applicable. BioLab Business subscription and circulation enquiries: Garth Atkinson, biondj16@publicationpartners.com (Fax: 905.509.0735). Subscriptions to business address only. On occasion, our list is made available to organizations whose products or services may be of interest to you. If you’d rather not receive information, write to us at the address above or call 905.509.3511.

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From the development of thinner-than-paper carbon-based electronics that can be used as sensors in smart food packaging, to the creation of a microscopic polymer surface that can be leveraged as a digital implant that releases medicine to patients via remote control, to the cutting-edge biotechnological tools that are enabling all of the revolutionary innovation, we’ve tried to, in the best way possible, illustrate the scope of challenges that biosciences are attempting to tackle, as well as the solutions they’re yielding.

As we continue to move forward, accelerating into the future at breakneck speed, the need for humans to consider and develop new ways of doing things, and to explore alternative materials that can be used to help make those things that we do cleaner, more efficient, and sustainable while achieving ever-greater results, is perhaps more important now than it ever has been before. Fortunately, we’ve got an incredible industry of bioscience professionals helping to lead the way.

Chris Forbes PUBLISHER & CEO

BY EMMANUELLE TOUSSAINT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BIOQUÉBEC

INNOVATION IS THE FOUNDATION FOR IMPROVING HEALTHCARE

In life sciences, one word is on everyone’s mind: innovation. But how it so important in the development of new therapies?

Innovation is crucial for implementing ideas that lead to valuable discoveries, developing new ways of doing things, and introducing more effective techniques. By being creative and doing things differently, we can achieve more and improve existing medical treatments while enhancing the care given to patients and their quality of life.

FOSTERING INNOVATION

Scientists are building on the knowledge gained in the past to further develop our expertise, push boundaries, and find novel solutions. A terrific way to foster innovation is through collaboration. When companies with innovative ideas work together, innovation flourishes and discovery accelerates. An idea produced by one is often the impetus for another’s.

Quebec is replete with innovative companies that are intent on doing things differently to bring our knowledge and skills to another level.

Consider the CRISPR technology that is revolutionizing genomics and the multitude of potential applications that are currently being developed for these molecular scissors. Despite its potential, one of CRISPR’s limitations is having the agent properly delivered to the right organ. Jenthera (according to their website) Therapeutics is investigating innovative nonviral methods for efficient and safe delivery. Another company working on CRISPRs is Repare Therapeutics, which is using this innovation to replicate DNA mutations found in patients’ cancers to quickly test the efficacy of chemotherapeutic components and offer personalized treatments.

TECHNOLOGICAL DISCOVERY PLATFORMS

Our companies innovate by developing technology platforms,

a way to increase discoveries tenfold. Once an innovative technology has been implemented and mastered, it can quickly and easily be used for several other applications. Ventus Therapeutics combines its knowledge of the structural biology of proteins with computer science to develop molecules adapted to configuring restricted targets, while KisoJi Biotechnology has designed a platform that produces highly differentiated next-generation antibodies with specific or multi-species features aimed at hard-to-reach targets in oncology and other fields.

DEEPENING UNDERSTANDING

Many companies represented by BIOQuébec are experts in artificial intelligence, a sector that is experiencing exponential growth and which is crucial for us to be able to improve our knowledge and accelerate the discovery of new therapeutic targets. Valence Discovery is a start-up that uses deep learning to develop better therapeutic candidates faster. It collaborates with several prominent companies such as Repare Therapeutics, Charles River Laboratories, and Servier. In addition, Modelis focuses on rare diseases to deepen our understanding of them and find new treatments for these orphan conditions. Using its discovery platform, the team hopes to “decomplexify” the biology of orphan diseases to facilitate the identification and validation of new therapeutic targets which underlie their pathologies by analyzing biological data.

Fostering innovation is key to finding new treatments and improving care for the general public. BIOQuébec works to support the growth of its members by facilitating collaborations and business development.

Learn more about our organization and its members at bioquebec.com

BY DAVID SUZUKI WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM IAN HANINGTON

CANADA’S PLASTICS BAN

IS A NECESSARY FIRST STEP

Our excessive use of disposable plastics is disastrous, not just for wildlife, but for us as well. Canada is starting to take it seriously, with a ban on several singleuse plastic items, starting in December.

Most of us have seen images of sea turtles malformed by plastic six-pack rings, dead birds with stomachs full of debris, animals smothered by plastic bags…

Manufacturing and importing plastic bags, takeout containers, single-use plastic straws, stir sticks, cutlery, and six-pack rings will be banned in Canada by December, followed by a banning of sales by the end of next year and a ban on exports by the end of 2025. The goal is to keep 15.5 billion plastic grocery bags, 4.5 billion pieces of plastic cutlery, 3 billion stir sticks, 5.8 billion straws, 183 million six-pack rings and 805 million takeout containers from littering lands and waters and ending up in landfills every year. (There’s an exception to the straw ban for people who require them for medical or accessibility reasons.)

Although the timeline seems long and the list of items short, government faced enormous pressure from industry, including legal battles. Plastics companies and organizations have challenged the government over jurisdiction, arguing that regulation should be left to provinces, and challenging scientific assessments and classification of plastic manufactured items as “toxic.”

choking lands, rivers, wetlands, lakes, oceans, and even air, industry should work to get ahead of the ban by phasing out the six targeted items and other non-essential plastics sooner rather than later. And the public and governments must get behind the call to expand the ban to more items. Public pressure has already helped, with the ban on exports, which was originally exempted, added last December.

The government is starting with the most common and harmful items but isn’t ruling out the banning of other single-use plastic products. That’s important because banned items make up only 5%(based on usage elsewhere in mag) of Canada’s plastic waste.

Recycling is only a partial solution as less than 10% of plastic waste in Canada is recycled, with 3.3 million tonnes, much of it packaging, thrown out annually, according to the CBC

With the ban, Canada is catching up to other countries. France banned most of the items last year, and is now phasing in further bans on items such as packaging on fruits, vegetables, and newspapers, as well as plastic in teabags and toys handed out with fast food meals.

Ensuring that bans are effective requires education and making sustainable options available when needed. Because the ban is limited, sustainable options may prevent companies from switching to alternatives that are no better, such as shrink wrap instead of drink container rings.

The greatest challenge is from industry. As the oil industry faces rising concerns about pollution, climate disruption, and global instability, it’s been looking to plastics to increase demand. Oil giant BP has predicted plastics will represent 95% of the net growth in oil demand between 2020 and 2040. Because of increasing restrictions and public pressure in the industrialized world, the plans hinge on pushing plastics in places like Africa.

As well as being a major pollution source, plastic is fuelling the climate crisis. Carbon dioxide emissions are produced at every stage of its life cycle, averaging about five tonnes of CO2 per tonne of plastic, and even more if it’s burned. According to a Vox article, “That’s roughly twice the CO2 produced by a tonne of oil.”

Dr. David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author, and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. Learn more at davidsuzuki.org.

Almost all plastic is a by-product of the oil industry, which has also pushed back. For example, Imperial Oil filed a notice of objection to the government’s classification of plastics as “toxic substances” under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

The restaurant industry and the provinces of Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Quebec have also pushed back against regulations.

But given the excessive amounts of plastic

Plastics can be useful, especially in medical and public health settings, although alternatives are increasing. But most of the plastic we use and throw away is unnecessary. Just as we must stop using fossil fuels, we must also move away from their plastic by-products. Canada’s ban is a good start, but we need to go further, and faster. It’s one area where our personal choices can make a big difference. New government standards make that easier. There’s no future in plastics.

Miniscule bio machines in bacteria open door to new medicines

With the help of the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan, researchers from McGill University are trying to unlock the full potential of tiny biological machines that can have a huge impact on human health.

Applying powerful beams of light available at the CLS, a national research facility with a powerful synchrotron and linear accelerator, the researchers were able to explore molecular structures in bacteria in great detail.

According to the CLS, these structures or “machines” known as nonri-bosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) are key to creating therapeutic molecules found in a range of medicines, from antibiotics to immunosuppressants.

“Microbes like bacteria and fungi have these NRPS machines that are responsible for making molecules that act as important drugs and therapeutics,” said Camille Fortinez, a recent PhD graduate of McGill’s Department of Biochemistry.

Understanding how NRPSs create therapeutics will help researchers design new drugs and combat health issues like antibiotic resistance.

With the help of the CMCF beamline at the CLS, Martin Schmeing, Professor of Biochemistry at McGill, and Fortinez were able to explore a common NRPS in great detail.

“CLS has allowed us to get a really high-resolution diffraction of our NRPS crystals,” Fortinez said. “This high resolution is really integral for allowing us to answer questions and better understand the NRPS.”

The team analyzed an NRPS, found in many bacteria, that helps generate a chemical that kills algae. In the process, Fortinez and Schmeing discovered that a separate enzyme is responsible for enabling the production of this chemical.

The researchers are hopeful that their discovery and the detailed data they’ve collected, will lead to new therapeutics and that the algae-killing compound might be modified to kill bacteria that threaten human health.

A common ingredient in household products may trigger superbugs

University of Toronto researchers found that a chemical in consumer products could be leading to a rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria. They showed that triclosan, often included in hand soaps, toothpastes, and cleaning products to fight off bacteria, was the dominant antibiotic rinsed down drains into Ontario’s sewage systems. The researchers believe that bacteria exposed to triclosan in this way may evolve into antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

$628 MILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDING FOR 19 CANADIAN RESEARCH FACILITIES

More than $628 million in federal funding will be going to 19 research infrastructure projects at leading Canadian institutions for ongoing operations and maintenance. Channeled through the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s Major Science Initiatives Fund, some of the receiving organizations include SNOLAB, an ultra-clean facility located two kilometres underground in Sudbury, ON, that studies neutrinos and dark matter; the Advanced Laser Light Source at the Université du Québec's Institut national de la recherche scientifique, which has Canada’s most powerful laser used in the investigation of matter; the Canadian Cancer Trials Group Operations and Statistics Centre at Queen’s University; and the Global Water Futures Observatories, a network of 76 water monitoring sites across the country.

UBC RESEARCHERS DISCOVER ‘WEAK SPOT’ ACROSS MAJOR COVID-19 VARIANTS

Researchers at the University of British Columbia have discovered a weakness in major variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, including the BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron subvariants. Using cryo-electron microscopy, they found vulnerable spots on the virus’ spike proteins, known as epitopes. An antibody fragment called VH Ab6 was able to attach to these spots and neutralize each major variant.

Crystal structure of the NRPS complex. Image: Courtesy of Canadian Light Source

STEM CELL-DERIVED EMBRYOS WITH BRAINS AND HEARTBEATS

Researchers at the University of Cambridge, and the California Institute of Technology have developed a stem cell-derived mouse embryo with a beating heart and brain.

While creating mouse embryos from stem cells is not new, arriving at the point where the entire brain, including the anterior portion at the front, begins to develop has never been accomplished.

Lead researcher and study co-author, Magdalena ZernickaGoetz explained, “This opens new possibilities to study the mechanisms of neurodevelopment in an experimental model.”

The synthetic embryos were made of three types of mouse cells: embryonic stem cells (which form the body); trophoblast stem cells (which develop into the placenta); and extraembryonic endoderm stem cells (which help to form the egg sac). The researchers were able to guide the cells to interact with each other, causing them to self-organize into structures that progressed through developmental stages to the point where they had beating hearts and foundations for the entire brain. Like naturally conceived embryos, the synthetic variation developed beating hearts, an egg sac for nutrients, and nascent organs including neural tubes that form the brain and spinal cord.

The embryos were developed in an artificial incubator created by the study’s co-author, Jacob Hanna of the Weizmann Institute in Israel, who recently kept realistic-looking mouse embryos growing in a mechanical womb for several days until they developed beating hearts, flowing blood, and cranial folds.

The team also removed a gene called Pax6, which is essential for the formation of the central nervous system, as well as brain and eye development, to test how the model embryos would react. The synthetic models went on to exhibit the same known defects in brain development as a natural animal carrying the mutation.

These findings could help scientists learn more about how human embryos develop and provide insights into diseases, in addition to providing an alternative to animals for testing.

Thinning out crowded molecules makes the invisible visible

MIT researchers have now developed a novel way to make “invisible” molecules visible. Their technique allows them to “de-crowd” or spread out the molecules by expanding a cell or tissue sample before labeling them, making them more accessible to fluorescent tags. This method, which builds on a widely-used technique known as expansion microscopy, which was previously developed at MIT, enables scientists to visualize molecules and cellular structures that have never been seen before.

MATERIAL THAT CAN THINK

Researchers at Penn State and the U.S. Air Force have engineered a new material that can think. They have developed an alternative to integrated circuits typically found in household electronics where information is processed on semiconductors made from silicon. Instead of silicon, the scientists used a soft polymer material that can sense, think, and act. The material functions as a brain that can receive digital strings of information that are then processed, resulting in new sequences of digital information that can control reactions.

TINY SENSOR DETECTS DRUGS

IN SWEAT

Patients who use potentially dangerous lithium to manage their bipolar disorder have to be monitored using a cumbersome process. However, just recently, UCLA scientists designed a tiny, touch-based sensor, smaller than the head of a thumbtack, that uses sweat to detect the level of lithium in the body in 30 seconds. The team engineered a water-based gel containing glycerol and an ion-selective electrode that trapped the lithium ions. The accumulating ions generate a difference in electrical potential as compared to a reference electrode. The researchers used this difference to infer the concentration of lithium present in sweat.

Natural and synthetic embryos.

Credit: Amadei and Handford/University of Cambridge

PAPER DREAMS

BY ROBERT PRICE

Imagine sensors that attach to the body like a second skin and detect biomarkers that come out of sweat. Paper-thin television screens that roll up like blinds. Comic books with animated pages. Heart monitors that attach directly to the heart. Medical sensors that dissolve inside the body.

Some of these applications of carbon-based electronics are still a dream away. Others are already happening in a laboratory run by Benoit Lessard, where the paper-thin circuitry rolling off printers has the potential to change the daily lives of Canadians in countless ways.

Research into thinner-than-paper carbon-based electronics opens new ways of living in the world— and it isn’t science fiction anymore

SUPER THIN, SUPER TEAM

Organic electronics, also known as carbon-based electronics or printed electronics, differ in important ways from their silicon sisters. Unlike traditional silicon chips that need temperatures of thousands of degrees and high purity, carbon-based electronics can be manufactured faster and at a much lower cost. Functional conductive inks can be produced with inkjet printers on paper or specialty plastics that bend and stretch.

If it sounds like science fiction, it’s because it is—or has been. Ultra-thin, bendable, wearable, ubiquitous tech has been a staple of science fiction for about as long as the genre has existed. The tech is finally reaching maturity for mass market deployment. But researchers still have a lot of work to do before anybody’s using a newspaper with moving images to swat flies.

“One of the challenges is that [printed electronics] are less efficient and so therefore a lot of the research is on trying to increase its efficiency or to tune it for a certain application,” says Lessard, who is an associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Ottawa.

For Lessard, who is a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Advanced Polymer Materials and Organic Electronics and a world expert on the technology, the unresolved problems of this computer circuitry fascinate and challenge his research team. The team includes chemists and engineers who work together to test new materials and creative applications. They constantly experiment. A chemist will make five different molecules—all slightly different—and hand those molecules to the engineers who process them into film and use the films in an application.

“And then we optimize in that way and go through, you know, hundreds of molecules and figure out which one is the one that’s great,” says Lessard.

What the team produces is baffling. Some of the electronics are so super-thin–one tenth the thickness of a single hair and transparent to boot—the group needs highpower imaging technology, like the synchrotron at Canadian Light Source, to make sense of what’s happening inside the materials.

When the group discovers cracks—literal cracks in the ink that carries currents—they work to solve the problem. That might mean going back to the chemistry to align molecules

better or change the process so that the inks dry in a way that leads to better performing applications.

A daily question for the lab, Lessard says, is “How do we mitigate those cracks and how do we make betterperforming materials?” The joy comes through trying to get the molecules exactly right.

TESTING FOOD, TESTING POT

Carbon-based electronics sound sci-fi, but they’re already on the market.

One recent example uses organic electronics as sensors for cannabinoids, like THC and CBD. Sensors on the market are expensive and require a lab run by a PhD, since the THC and CBD molecules are structurally similar. It’s a costly affair that can’t be avoided, either. Growers growing for medicinal cannabis want a high CBD ratio and low THC content, and those growing for recreational uses want high THC and low CBD. And the hemp industry doesn’t want any THC in their plants because otherwise they’re no longer categorized as hemp.

“It’s huge because 50 percent of food is thrown out,” says Lessard.

Smart packages with smart sensors can show the best before date in real time. One day, Lessard says, a person will be able to run a phone over the pack of ground beef they found in the back of their fridge. The app will activate a printed sensor that detects amines that come off decaying meat. If the sensors detect any amines, the app will alert the consumer that the meat is close to spoiling or spoiled. With a series of sensors available across the food supply chain, retailers and suppliers will be able to determine exactly where along the chain food spoils, allowing them to burn only what needs to be burned, rather than burning everything.

Applications like sensors for amine, E. coli, salmonella, and other bugs aren’t available yet, but other applications, like temperature sensors for pharmaceuticals, are nearly there, and smart wine labels have already arrived.

Wine collectors spend a lot of money on their collections. The average $5,000 bottle of wine will travel some 5,000 kilometres before it's consumed.

“But if you’re actually the person who wants to drink the $5,000 bottle of wine, you want to make sure that it isn’t spoiled, and you want to make sure that that bottle in all that flying and travelling never went above 35 degrees or below zero. You want to make sure,” says Lessard.

Enter smart labels that change colour if the bottle ever goes above a set temperature, giving wine collectors accurate information about whether that $5,000 bottle of wine is a $5,000 bottle of vinegar.

To lower the cost of testing, Lessard’s group spun out a start-up company called Ekidna Sensing. Launched in 2022, the company sells a test kit that uses printed electronics to test samples for cannabinoids. The precision in the printed sensors is impressive. Ekidna Sensing’s kits can differentiate the molecules and determine the quantity of each present.

It’s a small example, but it demonstrates the revolutionary potential that inexpensive, highly calibrated organic electronics can have on an industry.

Another example—one closer to home for most people—is smart packaging. Smart packaging is the kind of application that might, in a few years, be so commonplace that it becomes invisible, the sort of tech that children will assume has been around forever. It’s also one Lessard’s group is championing through its research.

Smart packaging has enormous potential to reduce food waste, save billions of dollars in food production, and help consumers across the globe save at the checkout lane by fine-tuning best before dates. As it happens right now, the best before date on a loaf of bread, a carton of milk, or a block of cheese is a statistical average. “And actually, it’s quite inaccurate,” Lessard says. Milk that goes directly from the grocery store, into a cooler, and then into the fridge, has a best before date that is far more accurate than milk that rides the bus in a plastic bag in 35C weather—which is how many Canadians get to and from the grocery store.

Lessard says he’s spoken to bread companies who say that if they can extend the best before date by one day, they’d save billions of dollars.

MERCENARY

Lessard says that working with such a malleable technology delivers the versatility he craves.

“I don’t know if it was an insult, but someone called me a scientific mercenary once, and I think that’s what’s sort of beautiful about this,” he says. “I love that one day I can talk to a biochemist who wants to research concussions and we can make a concussion sensor that can do the scans he needs. And then the next day I’m making better batteries, and then the next day it’s making flexible displays.”

Like a mercenary, Lessard dives into any challenge and fights all battles.

“The fact that I get to touch so many different things, and I can tell so many different stories, is quite appealing to me. I never get bored.”

Smart packaging has enormous potential to reduce food waste, save billions of dollars in food production, and help consumers across the globe save at the checkout lane . . .

Seeing through crystal

Pascal is making a career for himself as a man who can see the cellular response to DNA damage

BY ROBERT PRICE

GETTING TO KNOW THE FAMILY

Pascal has been investigating DNA repair for a long time. As a graduate student, he worked in a structural biology lab that used x-ray crystallography to study protein structures. And during his post-doc training, he joined a lab focused on DNA damage repair. There, he studied DNA ligases, enzymes that fix breaks in the structure of DNA. When he set up his own lab, he turned his attention to a family of enzymes called PARP, or poly (ADP-ribose) polymerases.

PARP is involved in virtually every cellular process imaginable. Currently, there’s not a lot known at the level of mechanism and structure—how PARP works and how these enzymes repair DNA. What is known is that some members of the PARP family are heavily involved in the DNA damage response by detecting DNA damage and making sure it’s repaired in a reasonable timeframe.

In PARP, Pascal found a fascinating structural puzzle: when PARP detects DNA damage, they become catalytically activated, but how they become activated and how they detect damage wasn’t understood.

How do cells cope with DNA damage?

Nobody knows. Yet. But the pieces of the puzzle are waiting to be found.

One person sorting the puzzle pieces—and getting closer to the big picture all the time—is John Pascal, a structural biologist at the Université de Montréal. The inventive work happening in his lab is helping to make the picture crystal clear.

“PARP enzymes are probably the fastest proteins among those that detect DNA breaks,” he explains. “So, ligases were acting at the end of the pathway when damage is being repaired, and the PARPs were sort of at the beginning of the pathway. This really caught my attention.”

Beyond the fascinating structural puzzle waiting to be solved, PARP offers huge potential in delivering something new to researchers, in particular in the area of inhibitor design.

“And there’s been a lot of interest, not just from people like me who enjoy understanding mechanism structural biology, but also the medical community,” says Pascal. “They perceive greater insights into these enzymes that they’re targeting with drugs.”

John

ZOOMING IN

PARP is good at fixing things. The PARP enzyme known as PARP-1, in particular, is very good at binding DNA breaks. When it encounters a DNA break, it binds to the break and produces poly (ADP-ribose), a chemical polymer that’s synthesized at the site of the DNA break. This polymer highlights where DNA damage is in the cell. It’s an alarm screaming for help.

What Pascal finds interesting is the way the enzymes work. Prior to binding to DNA breaks, PARP-1 is essentially inactive. But when it binds to DNA breaks, it becomes activated a thousandfold to make poly (ADP-ribose).

How it happens, until now, might have been best described as magic.

“We were really curious from a sort of mechanism point of view. How does PARP-1 bind DNA breaks, and how does that get communicated to another part of the enzyme? Because it’s a pretty big protein.”

The other intriguing problem was the structure of the activity. Most of the DNA binding happens on one end of the DNA, while the catalytic activity happens on the opposite end. As Pascal explains, there has to be some kind of communication between those two events. Magic can’t be the answer.

It wasn’t until Pascal and his team got a good look at the activity when researchers finally began to see what happens.

FINDING THE GOVERNOR

Over the years, Pascal’s lab had shown how PARP recognizes breaks and highlighted the pathway of communication between the DNA binding and the synthesis of this poly (ADP-ribose).

Pascal’s research team knew PARP-1 underwent conformational changes when it activated, but they hadn’t been able to isolate it in the active stage—the stage when it’s ready to make poly (ADP-ribose).

The key finding came when Pascal and his team discovered the helical domain, the dynamic movement that allows these enzymes to do their work to repair broken DNA.

The helical domain is, as Pascal describes it, “the governor of the active site.” In the off-state, the helical domain blocks the active site and prevents the enzyme from accessing any of the precursor nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) it needs to make poly (ADP-ribose). When PARP-1 becomes activated—when alarm bells ring—the helical domain distorts, allowing access to NAD.

Getting to that stage—like so many breakthroughs—took some creative engineering to capture that active state of the PARP-1 enzyme. Up until this point, the structures were crystalized with PARP-1 in the inactive state; the active state was a mystery and difficult to image. PARP-1 is a large protein, and the bigger the protein and the more flexible it is, the harder it is to crystalize often.

Pascal’s solution was to chop up a mutant of PARP-1 and reconstitute the most stable parts.

“We don’t have the full protein. We only have what we can classify as the important parts, and we mix those together.”

It isn’t easy to chop up a protein and reconstitute the activity of that protein. But it worked with PARP-1.

Using x-ray crystallography, Pascal crystalized the chemicals, shot these crystals with x-rays to determine the electron density map of the chemicals, and built an atomic model to fit that electronic density map of PARP-1 while active. Essentially, he took a photo of the protein in action. And what he discovered was that a large conformational change occurs with PARP-1, with the active site having a large rotation. This rotation within the protein allows a new chemical group to enter the vicinity of the inhibitor binding site.

This understanding changes the landscape of what designer inhibitors can look like.

“Why it’s meaningful is that previous structures hadn’t really seen what the active site looked like when it’s fully active, the state you would want to inhibit,” says Pascal. “This would give them a different sort of viewpoint of how to modify inhibitors to maximize interaction.”

And as it turns out, a lot of the newer inhibitors are being designed for PARP-1 in a way that prevents them from hitting other PARP family members. These inhibitors will be able to take advantage of the helical domain because it’s unique to PARP-1, a development made possible by Pascal’s ability to image the helical movements of the active PARP-1.

REASONS FOR WORKING

While many chase the big discoveries—curing cancer or sending people to Mars—Pascal relishes the close study of nature’s intricate machinery.

“For me, it’s always been the basic mechanism of PARP-1,” he says. “At the chemical level, how is this thing operating?”

A North Carolinian who now works and lives in Montreal, and who started his education as an engineer, Pascal says he’s always enjoyed thinking about mechanics and how things work. The x-ray crystallography/biology work he does at Université de Montréal is a good mix of wet lab biochemistry and draws heavily on Pascal’s knowledge of computation. He says the work fits his interests and talents, and the fact that he contributes incremental knowledge to a larger project—uncovers another piece of the puzzle—is a bonus.

“It’s been rewarding that that’s been helpful, or instructive for a better understanding of inhibitors. But the driving force for me has always been the basic mechanism, and just knowledge at that level has always been appealing to me.”

John Pascal—Professor with the Department of Biochemistry

Doctoral candidate Élise Rouleau-Turcotte

The digitization of modern medicine

As science and medicine evolve, their intersect is resulting in groundbreaking innovation

BY SEAN TARRY

An incredible breakthrough has recently been made which could significantly alter the way medication is taken by and administered to patients, and lay a foundation for future related developments and advancements.

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Göteborg, Sweden, have invented a new material that enables the use of electrical signals to capture and release biomolecules within the human body. It’s an innovation and discovery of a new method that is far more efficient and cost-effective than anything that’s come before it, and could possibly set the stage for the development of digitized pills and drug implants.

COST-REDUCING ADVANCEMENT

Living cells within the human body help to produce biomedicines which are harnessed and used in the treatment of certain types of cancers and autoimmune diseases, in addition to a number of other ailments and conditions. However, these biomedicines are incredibly expensive

to produce, rendering their access to researchers and physicians around the world extremely limited. Until now, that is.

The unique new material that’s been invented at Chalmers is a polymer surface that offers researchers and medical professionals an alternative technique that can be leveraged when producing biomedicines, increasing the viability of their creation while also significantly reducing the costs.

DIFFERENTIATING QUALITY

The new material has been undergoing clinical tests and trials to determine its resilience to different conditions and scope of usefulness. Results of the studies conducted were recently published in the German scientific journal Angewandte Chemie. The published article speaks to the primary benefits of the scientific breakthrough, which are recognized by Gustav Ferrand-Drake Del Castillo, the lead researcher of the project and author of its findings, who explains the differentiating quality of the advancement.

“Our polymer surfaces offer a new way of separating proteins by using electrical signals to control how they are bound to and released from a surface, while not affecting the structure of the protein,” he says.

POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS

Consisting of a polymer surface, the new material reacts when receiving an electrical charge, causing it to change states, enabling the capture and release of biomolecules, yielding a number of different potential applications.

One of the most encouraging applications is the possibilities it presents as a tool that can be used to accurately and efficiently separate medicines from other biomolecules that are created by cells during the production of the biological medicines.

This new separating technique, aided almost exclusively by the creation of the new polymer material, dramatically differs from conventional separation techniques. Known as chromatography, the traditional technique affixes biomolecules to the surface in such a taught manner that strong and invasive chemicals are required to facilitate release. This, most often, results in losses and an inferior yield. And, because many modern medicines have shown signs of being highly sensitive to these types of strong chemicals, interruptions in production result, followed by subsequent challenges faced by those working with biomedicines going forward.

ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

In addition to the incredible scientific benefits that are introduced through the creation of the new material, the invention is also resulting in fantastic consequential improvements as well. Because the new material allows for the creation of greater amounts of biomedicines without the need to use large doses of strong chemicals, the environment also wins. And, what’s more, it can be used repeatedly, through several cycles. In fact, researchers at Chalmers suggest that the process can be repeated hundreds of times without negatively impacting the surface.

Making this invention and scientific discovery even more interesting is the fact that researchers have also found that the new polymer material functions within fluids with what is known as a buffering capacity due to its ability to counteract changes in pH values. It’s a characteristic of the new material that not only supports its effectiveness, it also signifies the potential for the development of new techniques that could be used for implants and digitally-released medicines that are administered remotely by way of electronic activation.

COMPLEMENTING TECHNOLOGY

With respect to its potential uses and resulting benefits, Del Castillo says that the possibilities to complement

human intervention while also serving to direct and inform practitioners are innumerable.

“You can imagine a doctor, or a computer program, measuring the need for a new dose of medicine in a patient, and a remote-controlled signal activating the release of the drug from the implant located in the very tissue or organ where it’s needed,” he says. “Being able to control the release and uptake of proteins in the body with minimal surgical interventions and without needle injections is, we believe, a unique and useful property. The development of electronic implants is only one of several conceivable applications that are many years into the future. Research that helps us to link electronics with biology at a molecular level is an important piece of the puzzle in such a direction.”

SUPPORTING FUTURE DISCOVERIES

Beyond these many benefits and potential uses, Del Castillo identifies another massive advantage presented by the new material. Rooted in the fact that the polymer surface of the electrode is extremely thin—only possible to measure in nanometres—its use does not require as much energy as conventional methods, allowing it to immediately respond to the smallest of electrochemical signals.

“Electronics in biological environments is often limited by the size of the battery and the moving mechanical parts,” explains Del Castillo. “Activation at a molecular level reduces both the energy requirement and the need for moving parts.”

Going forward, Del Castillo believes that the team’s discoveries can benefit the development of further new medicines and techniques for administering them. And, it seems as though he may not need to wait long to see his work through to fruition. Over the course of the past year, the results that were yielded from the work of the Chalmers researchers has been leveraged for product development by Nyctea Technologies, with a line of customers awaiting the technology, including some of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, already forming.

Gustav Ferrand-Drake Del Castillo, Chalmers Research Scientist

BY SEAN TARRY

The speed at which scientific discovery and innovation moves is, on the slowest of days, mind-boggling, to say the least, supporting just about everything we do, facilitating further growth and the advancement of vital technologies. With this advancement comes the development and introduction of new composite materials that present the potential to make the things we use stronger, more resilient,

accurate and effective. And, it’s also yielding incredible potential within the field of advanced 3D-imaging, aiding the ability for researchers to solve complex problems related to materials—problems like those being tackled every day at the Composites Research Network’s (CRN) microXCT Imaging Facility in its Okanagan Laboratory at the University of British Columbia.

Advanced understanding

A dedicated centre for micro-computed tomography, the CRN provides complete support for 3D-imaging science, ultimately serving to significantly benefit professionals working within the areas of engineering, biomedical, environmental and archaeological sciences. The process is complex, one in which researchers leverage artificial intelligence-enabled and x-ray-computed technologies, and assists in helping to identify weaknesses within the makeup of certain materials, guiding and informing the ways in which improvements and enhancements can be made. It’s slightly unsung work, laments Tina Olfatbakhsh, a graduating PhD student and Laboratory Manager at the facilities, adding, however, that it’s extremely important work concerning the continued progress of the composites industry and development of optimized new materials.

“It’s clear that the composites industry is growing,” she says. “And it’s one that’s anticipated to continue growing over the course of the next decade-plus. A number of industries have already been leveraging and using advanced materials for many years, such as aerospace, automotive, marine, and construction. And, as technologies continue to advance and new innovative tools are introduced on a relatively consistent basis, the means by which we can create stronger, lighter and better materials is always increasing. And, as important as these advancements might be, having the right technologies necessary to continuously test the properties of new materials is just as important.”

Scanning for problems

In order to carry out its work within the lab, researchers have access to a microXCT 400 scanner, providing the facility with the capability of scanning specimens within a range of sizes. The impressive piece of equipment utilizes cone-beam acquisition, enabling it to conduct a number of particular and specified tasks that other equipment and technologies are simply unable to perform. It’s a piece of equipment that Olfatbakhsh says arms lab technicians and researchers with the ability to execute on a range of different tasks, all with the same objective of uncovering weaknesses and identifying strengths in order to solve for a given problem or issue.

“A lot of the most important work that’s done within the lab involves the study of the internal structure of the materials that we analyze,” she explains. “It allows us to take accurate measurements of materials composites, differentiating between the different composites within a structure and to help identify defects, such as cracks and bubbles, within materials. It’s extremely beneficial, allowing us to compare healthy subjects against those with defects to understand at an even more granular level where the deficiencies are, how they are being propagated, and where improvements and

to be made.”

enhancements need

Our scanners allow for the precise analysis of bones, blood vessel anatomies, and perhaps the scan and study of a specific organ like the lung, in order to meet the same objective as its use in studying composite materials. It can be extremely useful in understanding how a certain organ or tissue failed, what caused it to fail, and how its failure may have possibly been avoided.

Biological testing

The image processing component of the work that’s done within the facility is perhaps the backbone of the research that’s currently being conducted, enabling researchers to essentially see inside a given object and determine its composite makeup. However, because the cone-beamcomputed tomography allows for the capture of crosssectional imaging in angiography suites using a rotational C-arm and digital flat panel detectors, the potential benefits to those working within biosciences could be innumerable.

“With respect to biological specimens, the facility and its equipment can be as valuable as any other in the process of better understanding biological structure,” she asserts. “Our scanners allow for the precise analysis of bones, blood vessel anatomies, and perhaps the scan and study of a specific organ like the lung, in order to meet the same objective as its use in studying composite materials. It can be extremely useful in understanding how a certain organ or tissue failed, what caused it to fail, and how its failure may have possibly been avoided.”

Aiding future discoveries

The facility and technology represent a number of breakthroughs that can help bioscience researchers and technicians better understand diseases at a level that they weren’t able to before. It also allows for a deeper and more holistic view of structures, providing a platform to more accurately assess how similar structures in other living organisms might be susceptible or immune to particular diseases, and the reasons why.

In addition, the facilities in-situ testing stages provide researchers with the ability to test the properties of either biological matter or materials and composites when submitted to a range of tensile/compression, heating, cooling and water bath sub-stages. It’s an invaluable ability, says Olfatbakhsh, who recognizes that it’s all part of a state-ofthe-art approach that’s taken by the CRN and the researchers and professionals who leverage the laboratory for studies.

“At CRN, we’re all about consistently furthering our study and understanding of composite materials and advancing work being done within a number of different areas of expertise and interest. And, we’re eager to share our facilities and equipment in the collective pursuit of scientific research and discovery. With a whole host of scientific research activities that can be carried out here, supported by the cutting-edge technology that we have access to within the lab, there are so many industries and innovations that can benefit from its use, elevating the understanding of a range of different subjects, enabling future advances within various scientific fields and facilitating a world of potential.”

The CRN Micro-CT imaging system and work station. Image courtesy of the Composites Research Network’s micro-XCT Imaging Facility

X-ray source (left) and detector (right). Image courtesy of the Composites Research Network’s micro-XCT Imaging Facility

The Composites Research Network’s micro-XCT Imaging Facility

GlycoNet facilitating glycomics research collaboration and innovation

BY SEAN TARRY

the field and study of glycomics, there are few countries around the world with the brain power and expertise as Canada. However, given the generally fragmented nature of scientific pursuits, ensuring that breakthroughs receive the appropriate attention that they deserve can be the difference between success and failure. In order to provide the exposure necessary for the advancement of breakthroughs within the field of glycomics, to connect the dots and make connections between potential collaborators, and to secure the funding that’s required to make it all happen, GlycoNet was established.

Within

COUNTRYWIDE NETWORK

A pan-Canadian initiative, GlycoNet serves as a network of sorts, bringing together researchers, and industry and academic partners in order to develop solutions that can help address health problems, challenges and needs through the study of glycomics. Sometimes referred to as glycobiology, glycomics is a specialized, multi-disciplinary branch of biology which combines chemistry, cell biology and genetics.

Much of the scientific research in the country around glycomics has traditionally been conducted in silos. Yet, it’s research that, to fully realize its potential, requires input from a number of different disciplines. As a result, says Warren Wakarchuk, GlycoNet’s Scientific Director, the need for research support in order to enable and advance work being executed within the field is critical.

“GlycoNet was formed and has evolved to meet the

needs of a multi-disciplinary science that requires input from a number of different sides and perspectives,” he explains. “It’s a research network that works with a wide variety of researchers from all across the country, from hardcore synthetic chemists to doctors who work in clinics. And because of the nature of our network, we’re able to bring professionals together from across a range of fields, facilitating collaboration and inspiring innovative work.”

With respect to generating the funding required to support all of the amazing work happening within the field of glycomics research, the network is supported in part by the Government of Canada through the federal Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) Program, which provides GlycoNet with a base amount.The organization must then be very strategic and innovative, explains Wakarchuk, in order to supplement the funding provided by the government.

LABORATORIES AND EQUIPMENT

In addition to serving as GlycoNet’s Scientific Director, Wakarchuk is also a Professor within the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta and earned his PhD degree in Microbiology from the University of British Columbia. He’s also the former Research Officer at the National Research Council of Canada, where he served for nearly 20 years. With such a wealth of experience, it’s fair to say that he’s had the pleasure and opportunity to work within a number of laboratories across the country.

And, what makes GlycoNet such a benefit to glycomics, beyond its ability to connect collaborators within the field, is the network of facilities that are included within the organization’s resources.

“We recently received funding through the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s Major Science Initiative,” says Wakarchuk. “What that allows us to do is to highlight analytical centres across the country that are already involved in doing glycomics research, providing these services to both academics and industry researchers alike. So, if you come to GlycoNet with a problem, we can advise you as to which facility is the best to work with to suit your needs.”

COLLABORATIVE APPROACH

It’s all part of GlycoNet’s Integrated Services which helps to comprise its overall network. The organization works with no less than 35 different universities across the country, providing it with a trove of research specialists, stateof-the-art technical facilities and equipment, as well as an extraordinary amount of brain-power should anyone need to leverage it in order to support research that they’re conducting. Wakarchuk describes it as an “ecosystem” of experts, resources, tools and technology that come together to provide a means by which innovation can occur in provinces across the country.

GROUND-BREAKING INNOVATIONS

And, if the results of the projects that GlycoNet has helped fund are any indication, it seems that the untapped potential within the field of glycomics research is immense. For instance, one project involves the use of enzymes that trim carbohydrate structures in order to create universal blood. The uses for this innovation are obvious from the perspective of donor blood required in a variety of emergency medical situations. Vancouver-based ABOzymes Biomedical is the company pioneering this research and has been helped by GlycoNet with some initial grants in order to get some of the academic research done as well as a stimulus to ensure the intellectual property protection. They’ve since successfully raised more funds and have generated interest from the U.S. Air Force. It’s a breakthrough that presents massive benefits going forward and a real game-changer for those working within the field of emergency medicine.

Another example of the amazing work being conducted within the GlycoNet network is a group of researchers from McGill University and Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children who are working with enzymes in an incredibly creative way, creating a recombinant form of a biofilm degrading enzyme that can be used to restore antibiotic sensitivity to pathogens within the human body. These compounds can be used to treat ailments like lung infections. However, they can also be used on a patient’s catheter, preventing a biofilm from forming in the first place, in effect eliminating one of the most rampant hospital-acquired infections.

IMMENSE POTENTIAL

These are just two examples of the work being done within the GlycoNet network, but do well to illustrate the breadth of projects that it’s helping to facilitate across the country and the different combinations of expertise that are being brought together in order to support the work and results. They are also testaments to the potential that the network helps to unleash, providing a catalyst for big ideas and inspiration to innovate and continue to push the boundaries of glycomics research. It’s innovation that Wakarchuk suggests helps to maintain humanity's forward momentum. However, he adds that what’s needed now in order to further advance glycobiological studies is increased investment that can serve to help facilitate the generation of more efficient and cost-effective work and faster results.

“In a sense, glycomics is at the same point now as genomics was at the end of the Human Genome Project,” he says. “In the time that it took to sequence the human genome, the technology evolved to a point where DNA sequencing had become so commonplace. Today, it’s done by just about everyone because related costs have come way down. However, it took that big investment, both by industry and government, to push the technology. Today, genomics is a driving force behind a lot of things. The technology that we use to conduct glycomics research has matured to the point where we’re ready for a rapid evolution. We’re dealing with a complexity that requires specialized and high-powered equipment and instruments to be able to provide us with the outputs that we require.”

FUTURE OF GLYCONET

When discussing the future of GlycoNet, Wakarchuk is extremely optimistic, he explains that the injection of funding from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, which will run from 2023 to 2029, will help provide the much-needed support that researchers within the field need to continue making strides related to their studies. However, the organization’s funding provided by the NCE is going to be ending soon, prompting it to actively seek its next round of funding. It’s all part of what Wakarchuk describes as the network’s continuous effort toward providing consistent support for those working within glycomics and helping them sustain and advance the work they do. And, he adds, they’ve also got an eye on extending the work that’s supported beyond that of human health.

“We’d like to continue to grow over the near- and long-term, creating a GlycoNet 2.0, if you will, which will include a bit of an expansion outside of the human health sphere, moving more into the one health sphere. We’re already somewhat active within animal health, but we’d really like to grow our work and engagement in that area. Glycans are everywhere and play such an important role in the health of everything on the planet. As a result, there’s a really important role that GlycoNet can play in the future of glycomics research and the advancement of the science.”

FIVE NEW MATERIALS THAT

ARE

CHANGING THE WORLD

Keeping up with the latest developments and innovations and their potential impacts on science and people

BY SHELBY HUATALA

Stephen Withers, Director, Centre for High-Throughput Biology and Canada Research Chair in Chemical Biology, and his colleagues have devoted decades to uncovering a better way for diabetics to take life-saving drugs—and it all stems from a common garden flower.

Science is an ever-evolving pursuit that challenges professionals working within its fields to constantly and consistently research in order to keep up with the latest developments and innovations. To help alleviate this challenge, we’ve researched a plethora of unique new materials that are being explored and used, determining the five that pose the greatest potential to further advances within medicine and life science.

1 IMPLANTABLE DEVICE TO TREAT CHRONIC ILLNESSES

A soft, thin, and strong implantable device developed in order to detect and treat chronic illnesses, such as spinal cord injuries and Parkinson’s disease, is getting closer to clinical testing. The new technology has been developed by a research team that includes Dr. Tuan-Khoa Nguyen, Professor Nam-Trung Nguyen, and Dr. Hoang-Phuong Phan from Australia's Griffith University, UNSW Sydney and Queensland Micro Nanotechnology Centre.

Using silicon carbide technology nanomembranes and silicon dioxide, the device will be able to operate in extreme environments and be stable, flexible, soft, and functional— which is what is needed in order to work with human tissue. This device, once implanted, will last several decades.

The implantable device has a promising future with respect to its use to treat chronic diseases. The device will also be able to diagnose and provide the correct treatment for diseases aided by its electrical stimulations that pick up any abnormalities. The research team is still a long way from making this a reality, but once successful it will help people suffering from chronic illnesses while also advancing medical technology.

2 A NEW POLYMER THAT WILL SPEED UP CELL RESEARCH

England's University of Warwick, which partnered with Cryologyx, has created a new polymer technology that will save time and money, by reducing laboratory hours studying cells. Currently, scientists need to freeze cells in monolayers, attached on plastic, and can only begin working two weeks later, after they have thawed, delaying the research process. Cell research can help in the discovery of new drugs, toxicology, biomaterials, and viruses.

The University of Warwick has found a way to speed up this process so researchers can start studying cells within 24 hours after being removed from the freezer. The Gibson Group, also working with Cryologyx, has discovered this new way of thawing out cells with CryoShield—a macromolecular cryoprotectant technology that will protect the cells while in the freezer, allowing them to be studied almost immediately—facilitating research and accelerating the discovery of new drugs.

3 A NEW WAY OF CLEANING CONTAMINATED

WATER

Polycarbodiimide, a recently created polymer, can separate dyes from contaminated water making it easier for the water to be cleaned. The new material was tested at North Carolina State University to study its ability to clean water, yielding incredible results.

Researchers used UV-Vis spectroscopy and found that the new polymer was able to divide clean water from the contaminated water. Twenty different dyes were tested, with 16 working with the polymer.

Next steps will be to create a polymer that is able to remove more dyes from water and develop an alternative material that can be used without the polymer,—making it more user-friendly. In addition, after using the device to remove dyes from the water, the device can be cleaned and reused, preventing waste.

The importance of this development cannot be overstated as the use of dyes is rampant, found within cosmetics, textiles, paper, and so many more materials, contaminating our water systems.

4 SPONGE ELECTRODES INSPIRED BY SUGAR CUBES

New sponge electrodes are the future when it comes to monitoring patients whilediagnosing health problems, resulting in a much more cost-effective and stronger electrode compared to those that are currently available for monitoring health concerns such as irregular heart rhythms.

Currently, electrodes used by healthcare professionals to monitor their patients are costly, have limited function, and are not meant for long-term use as their gel dries up quickly, making it difficult to remain on skin for a long period of time. Because of these factors, researchers have developed a new electrode that was inspired by sugar to create a long-lasting, low cost, and functional device.

The new device starts by dipping sugar cubes into polydimethylsiloxane, which makes the sugar solid. The sugar is then dissolved with hot water and coated with micropores with a thin film, forming the electrode. This device will be more durable and have a stronger gel, making it longer lasting for patients and easier for healthcare professionals.

Tested on uterine contractions during labour, the device was deemed to be better than the traditional electrode used to monitor contractions, resulting in encouragement related to further advancements around the findings.

5 SPIDER SILK TO HELP WITH REGENERATIVE MEDICINE

Spider webs have been leveraged as inspiration by researchers from KI and SLU who have developed a three-dimensional gel from spider silk to help with the development of other proteins.

Researchers have found that the spider silk, when used with active proteins, can create a strong gel. The catalyst behind the creation of this new material was to create an injectable protein solution in the form of a gel that could be used inside the human body to assist with tissue engineering and drug release. When used with enzymes, it can also be helpful concerning different chemical processes.

The facts that spider silk is strong, does not clump, can create a gel quickly, and can withstand widely varying temperatures, all contribute to the potential posed by this promising new material toward advancing future regenerative medicine processes.

New powerful particle image velocimetry system

Microvec, a leader in fluid mechanics, has released a new affordable Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) system. The PIV system is designed for measurements in air and water with velocities of up to 200 metres per second. The system includes a double pulse 60 mJ PIV laser with 2 x 25 Hz pulse frequency and a 2.8-megapixel CCD camera, capable of capturing 54 images per second. The camera is capable of matching the frequency of the laser and capturing frames from all laser pulses. piv.com.sg

Analyzer makes operation easier and cuts training times

KPM Analytics recently added a low-mid capacity analyzer to its SmartChem line of wet-chemistry discrete analyzers. The SmartChem 210 features user-friendly graphical software that simplifies operation and reduces training time. Ideal for physicochemical inorganic testing laboratories, it has a capacity of 60 samples and 32 reagent positions. Visible spectrophotometry and parallel testing are enabled in its 60-position reusable cuvette carousel. www.kpmanalytics.com

New cryo-plasma focused ion beam streamlines cellular cryo-electron tomography research

Thermo Fisher Scientific recently introduced its Arctis CryoPlasma Focused Ion Beam (Cryo-PFIB), a new connected and automated microscope that boosts the pace of cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) research. Cryo-ET makes it possible to study how proteins and other molecules operate together in a cellular context, with enormous potential for studying infectious and neurodegenerative diseases, and other structural biology applications. www.thermofisher.com/ca/en

Next generation sequencing

Bio-Rad’s QX600 Droplet Digital PCR System offers advanced six-colour multiplexing and absolute quantification of nucleic acid. It allows clear discrimination of multiple targets with assays that are cross-compatible with the QX200 Droplet Digital PCR System. Ideal for applications such as gene and cell therapy or water testing, the system is designed for researchers who need to quantify multiple targets with high accuracy reproducibility. www.bio-rad.com

Latest in chromatography and mass spectrometry

Agilent’s 6475 triple quadrupole liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) system employs several technological advantages like the superheated Agilent Jet Stream ion source, curved and tapered collision cell, heated hyperbolic quadrupoles, and ±20 kV high-energy dynode detector system. It features early maintenance feedback, scheduled tune and checktune, and intelligent secondary injection workflows. www.agilent.com

Faster and more cost-effective bioprocessing

Bio Talent Page 2 biotalent.ca

CPDN Page 19 cpdn.ca

FCC Page 28-29.......................................................................... fcc.ca/BeverageReport

AG West Page 38 abic.ca

California Figs Page 47 CaliforniaFigs.com

Bio Talent Page 48 biotalent.ca

MilliporeSigma, the U.S. and Canada life science business of Merck KGaA, now offers the MAST (Modular Automated Sampling Technology) platform. The platform is an automated, aseptic bioreactor sampling system designed to advance bioprocessing capabilities for more efficient and cost-effective drug manufacturing. It enables more frequent sample and real-time data collection in hours rather than weeks, as compared to manual sampling. www.sigmaaldrich.com/CA/en

» The science of food and

The functional food revolution

THE PROMISE OF PURPLE WHEAT

PUBLISHER & CEO Christopher J. Forbes cforbes@dvtail.com

MANAGING EDITOR Sean Tarry starry@dvtail.com

COPY EDITOR Mitchell Brown

CONTRIBUTORS El-Sayed M. Abdel-Aal Richard Baker Vasantha Rupasinghe Yvonne V. Yuan

SENIOR Leesa Nacht ACCOUNT lnacht@dvtail.com EXECUTIVE

ART DIRECTOR Sharon MacIntosh smacintosht@dvtail.com

SECRETARY/ Susan A. Browne TREASURER

MARKETING Stephanie Wilson MANAGER swilson@dvtail.com

PRODUCTION Crystal Himes MANAGER chimes@dvtail.com

CANADIAN FOOD BUSINESS ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Marcia English, Associate Professor, St. Francis Xavier University

Michael Nickerson, Saskatchewan Research Chair and Professor, University of Saskatchewan Hosahalli Ramaswamy, Professor, McGill University

Amanda Wright, Association Professor, University of Guelph

Canadian Food and Business is published 4 times per year by Jesmar Communications Inc., 30 East Beaver Creek Rd., Suite 202, Richmond Hill, Ontario L4B 1J2 905.886.5040 Fax: 905.886.6615 www.canadianfoodbusiness.com One year subscription: Canada $35, US $35 and foreign $95. Single copies $9. Please add GST/HST where applicable. BioLab Business subscription and circulation enquiries: Garth Atkinson, biondj16@publicationpartners.com Fax: 905.509.0735 Subscriptions to business address only. On occasion, our list is made available to organizations whose products or services may be of interest to you. If you’d rather not receive information, write to us at the address above or call 905.509.3511.

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BioLab Business, a sister publication of Canadian Food Business, is a proud member of BioteCanada and Life Sciences Ontario.

APPETITE FOR FUNCTIONAL FOOD AND BEVERAGES GROWS

The COVID-19 global pandemic has resulted in a whole host of impacts that have influenced the daily lives of Canadians in every province and territory from coast-to-coast-to-coast. Some of the impacts and subsequent influences have been picked up by media and covered extensively, such as recurring lockdowns and the accelerated digitization of the world around us that it helped spark, changing forever the way we find, share, and consume information.

Social restrictions and protocols imposed by governments have also altered the way people engage in public and the traditional modes of working. In short, circumstances over the course of the past couple of years have resulted in adjustments to just about everything that we do. However, perhaps much more meaningful than the modifications that the pandemic has affected is the shift in mindset among the average Canadians that has included a greater focus on their health and wellness.

It’s an intensified focus that’s caused a cascade of ripples throughout a number of markets and sectors. But the one that seems to have been impacted more than any other, finding itself as one of the primary beneficiaries of a more healthconscious Canadian, is the functional food and beverage sector and its adjacent providers. The global functional food ingredient market alone is set to hit $118.4 billion by 2026, casting a brighter light on the actual function and utility of functional foods.

Within this issue of Canadian Food Business, we attempt to uncover the trends within the functional food and beverage market that are resulting from the shift in mindset among the general public, determine where the growth is most significant, and identify opportunities for further growth of the sector.

We highlight the attributes of purple wheat, its potential to be used as a healthy food ingredient, and the benefits that result from its measured consumption. And, we also explore some functional foods that you may not have heard of before.

Sean Tarry EDITOR

We hope that the content that we’ve served up within this issue of Canadian Food Business provides those working within the country’s food innovation industry with something to chew on, as the slice of the functional food and beverage pie continues to grow.

In 2022 the Canadian Institute of Food Science & Technology (CIFST) and Canadian Food Business magazine launched a partnership to create a platform for leading experts, innovators and scientists to showcase the latest trends, knowledge and developments that are changing the face of Canada’s food industry today. For further information contact sbrowne@dvtail.com

Publisher of BioLab Business Magazine Printed in Canada

2022 FCC Beverage Report:

Demand shifting from retail to

service

The annual FCC Beverage Report highlights opportunities and risks for Canadian beverage manufacturers. It includes an annual sales forecast for 2022, product sales performance and a gross margin rate index.

Industries featured in the report are:

• Breweries

• Wineries

• Distilleries

• Soft drinks and other non-alcoholic beverages

Dairy and fruit/vegetable-based beverages are covered in our food report under the dairy and fruit and vegetable manufacturing industry sections.

The pandemic shifted consumer purchases from food service to retail, limiting a revenue stream with usually strong margins for most beverage manufacturers. In 2021, consumers started to shift their purchases back to the service industry; however, lingering restrictions and higher production costs reduced profitability.

Three key observations from this year’s report: 1. Beverage manufacturing sales increased in 2021

Increased foodservice volumes and continued retail growth boosted total sales 11.3% YoY to $14.5 billion in 2021 (Table 1).

Beverage manufacturing sales are projected to decrease 1.0% in 2022, driven by:

• Broad inflation shifting consumers’ choices

• Elevated wholesale/retail inventory levels limiting downstream sales

• Shift towards service-based sales where consumers tend to drink fewer alcoholic beverages than at home

FCC Economics expects sales declines coming from larger alcoholic businesses focused on retail, with smaller operations (who represent a minority of total revenues) benefiting from growth in the service industry and a return to selling direct to consumers. Companies with a diversified portfolio of beverages catering to different audiences will outperform (for example, beer and seltzer, caffeinated and non-caffeinated). 2021 (millions $) YoY

Table 1: Manufacturing sales and exports grew in 2021 YoY

Beverage manufacturing sales 14,555 11.3 13,080 3.0

Beverage exports 1,458 3.8 1,405 2.1

Beverage imports 6,157 3.6 5,945 1.2

Beer, wine and liquor retail sales 26,445 2.5 25,800 6.6

Bar sales 1,554 12.7 1,379 -44.2

Total estimated alcoholic retailfocused sales

Source: Statistics Canada

27,999 3.0 27,179 1.9

2. Industry gross margins expected to improve

Supply-chain disruptions lowered the availability of key packaging and raw inputs, driving up costs. Despite growing topline sales, gross margins struggled to regain 2019 levels (Figure 1). Strong competition in the alcoholic beverage sector makes it difficult to pass on higher costs, resulting in beverage inflation lagging food inflation.

We expect margins to improve in 2022 as consumers are willing to pay higher prices for beverages, assuming costs don’t continue to rise. Bar, taproom, wine tasting rooms and restaurant sales are also often at a higher margin than retail. Non-alcoholic companies successfully pass on cost increases with little impact on volumes year-to-date and overall supporting margins.

Figure 1: 2021 beverage gross margin rates remained below pre-pandemic levels

consecutive years. Canadian breweries have taken market share from internationally produced beer over that timeframe, although their volume has also declined, just at a smaller rate. Overall, beer’s market share compared to wines and liquor fell by two percentage points to 36%. Gains in distilled beverages came from growing demand for hard seltzers, which many breweries are shifting focus towards to offset declines in market opportunities for beer.

Table 2: Beer lost retail market share in Canada in the 2020-21 marketing year

Beverage type

Total beverage market share % YoY % change

Beer 36.0 -2.0 Wine 33.8 -0.6 Distilled liquor 30.2 2.7

Source: Statistics Canada (Apr 2020 – Mar 2021)

*Performance does not line up with calendar manufacturing sales due to timing and inventory levels at wholesale and retail stores.

The bottom line

Source: Statistics Canada, FCC Economics

3. Beer remains the number one alcoholic choice among Canadians but also faces pressure

Beer sales at the retail level for the 2020-21 year declined 1.4%, with total litres sold falling 2.3%. Total beer volumes have now declined for five

Low retail inflation relative to rising input costs is a trend to monitor. Look for data-driven ways to boost margins, manage inventory, product mix and pricing strategies. Find ways to maintain or grow market share by connecting with Canadian consumers, through tourism or capitalizing on their desire for niche and “locally produced.” The alcoholic beverage market is competitive; however, product innovations, including seltzers, pre-mixed drinks, non-alcoholic drinks and other beverages, are supporting growth.

Read the full report at fcc.ca/BeverageReport

Kyle Burak, FCC Senior Economist

The rise of functional food and beverages

Who is the sector’s consumer and what’s driving the market’s growth?

By Richard Baker

Weconsume foods for many reasons: for basic physiological needs, for sensory pleasures, and for the social occasions it facilitates. Increasingly, especially throughout the pandemic, consumers have focused more intensely on foods and beverages that contribute to their health and wellness, with a strong emphasis on functional foods and beverages. During the pandemic, 4 in 10 consumers purchased such products. This emphasis is solidified by McKinsey & Co’s Future of Wellness survey which revealed that 79% of worldwide consumers believe that wellness is important, with 42% considering it a top priority.

Consumers are increasingly taking their health into their own hands. They understand the correlation between food and health and seek foods and beverages that will help them more aggressively meet their unique nutrition and personal health goals.

The Canadian functional food and beverage market is projected to reach $19.2B by 2026, growing at an anticipated Compounded Annual Growth Rate of 6.3% between the period 2021-2026. Functional food ingredients that support better

sleep, reduce stress and improve focus are in demand and driving product innovation.

Interestingly, the strongest demand for functional food and beverages is from consumers under the age of 55. They are more aware of and utilize products that offer functional benefits. Shifting demographics are positioning this market for sustained growth, as Millennials and Gen Z are already the most engaged demographic in functional product usage and are significantly more focused on foods that support both mental and physical well-being. Those consumers over the age of 65 also represent opportunities to grow the audience for this sector.

When asked “which were the reasons” for purchasing functional food and beverages, the immune system (58%), and healthy bones and joints (46%) were the top two responses, followed by digestive health (43%), heart health (40%) and improved energy (39%).

Given the fact that the interest in health and wellness has never been higher, let’s take a more in-depth overview of the top five responses for purchasing functional foods and beverages:

1. Immune System Health: Consumers are seeking protection against illness and disease, from COVID-19 to the common cold and other ailments in between. Consumers seek products that are rich in nutrients and present a great flavour. 70% of global consumers have changed their diet and lifestyle in a bid to improve their immunity.

2. Healthy Bones and Joints: As we age, the risk of bone and joint issues such as osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis increases. This is the main concern for mature adults over the age of 51 and clean label products, as well as products that offer preventative health, are in high demand.

3. Digestive Health: Consumers associate good digestive health with overall wellness. Strong digestive health allows the body to properly break down food and absorb nutrients to keep the body healthy. Consumers with strong digestive systems are less likely to experience heartburn, bloating, and indigestion.

4. Heart Health: Your heart is a muscle and strengthens with exercise. Three keys to a strong heart include 1) weight loss, 2) the consumption of heart-healthy foods, and 3) the reduction of stress levels.

5. Improved Energy: Consumers seek products to boost struggling energy levels. One in three consumers report feeling tired and lacking energy. Seven in 10 consumers seek out food and drink to boost their energy level.

While the pandemic may have accelerated this trend, dramatically impacting the way in which consumers view wellness, with a stronger emphasis on “better” health, fitness, nutrition, appearance, sleep, and mindfulness, functional foods are proving to be no flash in the pan. And, as today’s consumer continues to evolve, it seems we’re collectively allowing food to be our medicine and medicine to be our food.

Cyber attacks on Canada’s food supply are a growing threat

The rise in smart farming has exposed vulnerabilities to cyber threats in Canadian food production, distribution and global food supplies, according to new research by a joint team of computer and food scientists out of the University of Guelph (U of G). They are hoping their findings will help arm food producers against such attacks and spur the Canadian government to develop data security standards for the agricultural sector.

To help ensure food security, producers are increasingly adopting smart farming and precision agriculture technology to grow and raise more food while reducing environmental impacts and waste from fertilizers and pesticides. But all those interconnected sensors, smart meters, cameras, and other devices leave farmers more vulnerable to “data insecurity” and potential cyberattacks.

“The level of cybersecurity protection in agriculture is minimal to non-existent. We need to think about it before things get out of control,” warns U of G’s Ali Dehghantanha, Canada Research Chair in Cybersecurity and Threat Intelligence at U of G.

Dehghantanha’s lab is the only Canadian university research centre investigating the increased number of cyberattacks on farm networks. To do so, he teamed up with U of G food experts on a first-time study of smart farming and cyber threats which included a 2022 survey of on-farm wireless technologies.

It follows a 2020 market research study he co-authored that found the global smart agriculture market had grown to more than $10 billion by 2019. Meanwhile, spending on cybersecurity in smart agriculture accounted for only about 3% of total cybersecurity spending in North America.

Dehghantanha advises that farmers need to make sure their technology can ward off three main kinds of threats: ransomware which freezes digital assets until owners pay a hefty sum; theft of confidential information, later sold to competitors; and, disruption or control of network systems.

“Any [such] disruption of infrastructure could cause disruption of the supply chain and affect food security,” he warns.

He goes on to say that farmers need to practice “cyber hygiene” by updating systems, protecting private information, and using authentication and password procedures. He urges producers to consider deploying cyberthreat monitoring systems available from various companies. And he suggests that producers build relationships with system vendors to ensure prompt response if problems occur.

Investing in Indigenous food sources to aid food security

in the North

Traditional foods from wild animals and plants have long been a source of healthy and sustainable nutrition for Indigenous and Northern communities. Now, in response to a call for greater access to traditional foods by Indigenous leaders, the Canadian government has invested $383,000 to support a two-year project to boost local reindeer herds. With guidance from trained and professional herders and the support of community members and partners, the goal is to grow the reindeer population so it can be a sustainable source of nutrition, hides and crafting supplies, and provide local employment and training opportunities.

Cell-based aquaculture to augment depleting fish

Umami Meats recently unveiled the world’s first cultivated fish ball laksa. Umami is a cellular agriculture startup company developing sustainable alternatives to traditional fish production. The cell-based fish balls are made from cultivated fish. Then, they are supplemented with plant proteins to give them a similar taste and texture to that of traditional fish balls.

Report shows you can grow more crops while reducing greenhouse gases

Over the next 50 years, farmers will need to produce more food than has been grown in the last 10,000 years. The Fertilizer Agri-Economics Study, recently released by Fertilizer Canada and the Canola Council of Canada, shows that aggressively adopting principles of good nutrient stewardship in agriculture (4R Best Management Practices), can achieve a 14% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 without jeopardizing food security.

Four innovative Canadian projects get funding boost for food safety and sustainability Creating starch with a low glycemic index

The Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN) has announced an investment of $338,000 into four projects.

Trendi Tech from Burnaby, BC, is working on new avenues to use rescued foods and repurpose ingredients to make soups and smoothies from food wastes for its line of healthy option vending machines. The funding will go to jump starting the design for a hot soup kiosk using the company’s own freeze-dried products, explains Trendi Tech CEO, Craig McIntosh.

Operating out of Calgary, Nutrimeals is a digital platform that uses AI to deliver meals customized to a consumer’s dietary needs. It received funding to digitize its e-commerce platform and logistics model. “We are passionate about making healthy eating accessible,” said Samuel Hale, Nutrimeals’ co-founder. The project aims to advance personalized meals and access to precision nutrition.

Henry’s Tempeh from Kitchener, ON, was the third recipient of CFIN funding for developing a solid-state automated tempeh incubator that can scale up to produce industrial quantities of tempeh, with the ability to ferment Canadian pulses. The company plans to use the funding to develop non-soy fermentation and a smart fermentation system said Jason Jurchuk, President.

In Toronto, ON, Index Biosystems will apply CFIN funds toward automating its BioTag application system— microscopic barcodes that tag and trace grain across the supply chain. The company uses biotechnology to turn baker’s yeast into microscopic barcodes for a secure link between a product and its supply chain data. It aims to enhance food safety, traceability, and sustainability across the food value chain.

“With BioTags, we can authenticate individual grains at commodity scale,” says Michael Borg, CEO at Index BioSystems.

A second round of Innovation Booster funding, looking at food ecosystem sustainability, closed in September. The Innovation Booster, which is administered by CFIN and supported by Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund, supports small and medium businesses pushing the boundaries of food innovation while grappling with technical hurdles.

German food ingredients producer, Loryma, working with the ZIEL Institute for Food & Health at the Technical University of Munich, have created a low glycemic index wheat starch and dietary fibre substitute with an index value of 4, compared to native wheat starches which typically carry a value of 50. The new Lory Starch Elara is only partially digested and contributes to satiety.

Taiyo’s functional drinks now include a sleep aid

An innovative beverage concept called Sleepwater has been unveiled by Taiyo which markets its functional foods both in Canada and worldwide. The beverage is specially designed for consumers who have difficulty falling asleep or sleeping through the night and incudes L-theanine, a compound that promotes relaxation and helps reduce stress.

Climate-friendly foods debut in university dining halls

Food service giant, Aramark, has introduced climatefriendly meals on residence dining menus at 15 universities and colleges in Canada. Working with the World Resources Institute, a global market research firm, Aramark identified 250 Cool Food Meals based on their ingredients and the land used to produce the meals.

The state of the global functional food ingredient market

Buoyed by continued growth, opportunities are abundant for those operating within the bourgeoning sector

By Sean Tarry

The

Global Functional Food Ingredients Market Report

2022 was released this past spring, revealing expectations around continued growth of the market that industry observers are anticipating will reach $118.4 billion by 2026.

It’s impressive growth for the still burgeoning sector— growth that will be reflected by a compounded annual growth rate of 7.6% over the reports analysis period. And, when it comes to the functional food ingredient phenomenon, the report suggests that the primary driver of the groundswell of popularity is today’s increasingly health-conscious and wellness-inspired global consumer.

Increased appetite

Findings within the report suggest that enhanced awareness concerning the benefits of safe fortified foods and how they can help contribute toward an enjoyable life have lent to an increased appetite for the sector’s wares among the general public. In turn, a greater understanding of the ways in which functional food ingredients can help to prevent the onset of a number of different chronic diseases, including high blood pressure and diabetes has been developed, enhancing the standing of the sector further.

The report goes on to suggest that there are a multitude of other factors that are helping to drive increased adoption and use of functional food ingredients and the subsequent growth of the sector. They include:

• Growing numbers of gym-goers and fitness centres

• Changes in the regulations for the food and beverage sector in countries and regions around the world

• Increasing consumer demand for wholesome and cleanlabel food and beverage products with high nutritional content

• Product innovations, developments, new investments, and new product launches by many companies are piquing interest among consumers

• Growing focus on healthy lifestyles amidst the ongoing pandemic drives focus toward functional foods, driving demand for ingredients

• Focus grows concerning natural foods and clean label

• Consumers’ focus on less processed foods drives market prospects

• Increasing prevalence of chronic and lifestyle diseases enhances consumer spending on functional foods and boosts demand for ingredients

• Growing prominence of functional foods and drinks in weight management facilitates market demand

• Increased plant-centric demand and availability of plants in convenient formats

• Increased use of plant milk for digestive wellness

• Increased awareness around the use of prebiotics as an important ingredient promoting gut health, brain health, and immunity

• Exploration of the potential role of prebiotics and probiotics in the prevention and treatment of Coronavirus infections

• Trend towards higher fiber consumption drives demand for prebiotic fibers

• Antioxidants gain importance in functional beverages

• The entry of soy-based functional ingredients into the mainstream

• Growing use of carotenoids in functional foods and beverages

• Emergence of omega-3 as a popular heart-healthy ingredient

Rise in demand of protein-fortified products

• Emergence of rice protein as a functional ingredient

• Emergence of dietary fat as a new ingredient for functional food and drinks

• Increased demand for functional ingredients in snack foods

• Rising consumer interest in fruit-based functional ingredients

• Rising demand for natural ingredients in functional foods

• Wide-ranging benefits related to endurance, cardiovascular, and bone health drives robust demand for protein-based products

• Increased interest in mood enhancers

• Increased innovation driving market expansion

• Millennials’ focus on health and wellness

Market analysis

The report identifies the United States as the largest market posing the greatest potential growth for the functional food ingredient sector, which is currently estimated at USD$25.6 billion in 2021, accounting for a 30.93% share of the global market.

Trailing the United States in terms of market share and growth potential is the world’s second largest economy, China, which is anticipated to reach an estimated USD$14.1 billion by 2026 with a compounded annual growth rate of 10.5%, followed by Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 6.2% and 6.6%, respectively.

Germany is the leading European nation when it comes to growth potential for the functional food ingredient market, which is forecast to grow at approximate compounded annual growth rate of 5.7%. The remainder of the EU is expected to reach a cumulative US $15.4 billion by 2026.

Here at home

The Canadian market is also highlighted within the report, identifying the unique drivers influencing the growth of the sector within the country. It reveals that an increased focus on health and wellness and concerns related to complications including diabetes, obesity, and digestive disorders are the factors bearing the most significant impacts. It also identifies Canada as a key supplier of functional ingredients and foods, positioning it well for further growth beyond the report’s analysis period.

To access the full version of the Global Functional Food Ingredients Market Report 2022, visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com

The future of functional foods in Canada AND THE EVOLUTION OF FOOD BIOACTIVE CONCEPTS

Growing

consumer demand for functional foods in Canada leading to big opportunities for innovation within the industry

By H.P. Vasantha Rupasinghe, Professor of Functional Foods & Nutraceuticals, Department of Plant, Food, and

Environmental

Sciences, Dalhousie University

The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced our dietary habits and inspired some food bioactives. Canadians seem to be not too dissimilar from the rest of the world when it comes to choosing their food. Consumers’ belief in food as medicine is increasing as seen by elevated sales of functional foods and beverages. Consumers are thinking of a more preventive approach to health and specifically seeking foods and beverages that could support immunity directly or through an enhanced gut microbiota. This is an opportunity for the functional food industry to innovate new food and beverage products.

Young consumers are also looking for sustainably healthy food with ethical and humane production. The pandemic has also forced us to think about homegrown food, ways to extend the growing seasons, controlled-environmental and vertical farming, automation and robotics for farms and food manufacturing, and non-conventional food delivery systems.

The trends in plant-based foods, especially protein, also continue to grow and are a development in the mitigation of GHG emissions and sustainable food production for the growing global population. The importance of incorporating bioactives in a healthy diet to reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), as well as to manage infectious diseases including COVID-19, has also been revealed and could play a significant role in protecting the health of a growing elderly population in Canada as well as to combat the increasing prevalence of cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and type 2 diabetes.

What are functional foods and food bioactives?

Food can be regarded as "functional" if it is shown to benefit one or more target functions in the body, beyond adequate nutrition, in a way that improves health and well-being or reduces the risk of disease. The concept of functional food is built around what Hippocrates, the father of medicine, stated thousands of years before: “Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.”

However, over time, rapid advancements in food production after the green revolution, in combination with changing lifestyles, have made our regular diet nutritionally imbalanced, energy-dense, and deficient in bioactives. Food bioactive refers to the non-nutrient, naturally occurring constituents of food that have protective effects against NCDs.

Bioactives do not have a direct role in growth and development or in preventing typical deficiency conditions. Food bioactives are sometimes called nutraceutical

ingredients and can be classified into many sub-groups of flavonoids and other polyphenols, carotenoids and other isoprenoids, glucosinolates, omega-3 fatty acids, bioactive peptides, prebiotics and probiotics and some minerals. For example, polyphenols, especially catechins, are the primary food bioactive of green tea that provide antioxidative and other physiological functions, bringing health benefits that extend beyond those of basic nutrition.

Now, the governments of many countries around the world have started initiatives to facilitate the rebirth of this ancient concept in a much more sophisticated and regulatory environment. For example, in 1991, Japan first introduced the world to ‘functional foods’ through Foods for Specified Health Use (FOSHU). In the US, a few health-related statements or claims are allowed on food and dietary supplement labels. The US FDA approves health claims confirming a relationship between components in the diet and risk of disease or health condition, supported by significant scientific agreement. Countries such as China and South Korea have even made Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) for common food bioactives such as soy isoflavones.

Functional foods: the Canadian versions

In Canada, though there are no formally recognized functional foods, there are some categories of regulated specialized food which bear some aspects of the concept of functional foods. For example, supplemented foods are broadly defined as pre-packaged products that are manufactured, sold or represented as food, which contain added bioactive or herbal ingredients, vitamins, minerals, or amino acids. These ingredients may perform a physiological role beyond the provision of nutritive requirements. It seems that plant ingredients incorporated into supplemented food are growing in Canadian groceries.

Health Canada also allows foods with nutrient claims. The function claims are for the specific component of the food. For example, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)-containing foods could claim: “DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid, supports the normal physiological development of brain, eyes, and nerves primarily in children aged under 2 years.” For the foods with probiotic claims, speciesspecific claims are accepted if a serving contains a minimum of 1 billion colonyforming units of one or more eligible microorganisms. A few disease risk reduction claims are allowed on food labels in Canada: for example, “A healthy diet rich in a variety of vegetables and fruit may help reduce the risk of heart disease” and “Selenium helps against oxidative stress.” Novel food ingredients undergo a mandatory pre-market assessment prior to being authorized for sale in Canada. Marketers require a Temporary Marketing Authorization Letter (TMALS) from Health Canada.

Future of Canadian functional food: Challenges and prospects

In order to continue advancing the functional food sector, and to provide true physiological health benefits to consumers, it is critical to establish Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) for common food bioactives. Health Canada and respective research institutes are required to work closely to establish DRIs to develop effective and safe doses to guide food manufacturers. It is also required to educate Canadians on food bioactives. The impact of nutrition and food bioactives should be included in the Canadian education system, including medical schools.

A survey conducted among Canadians in 2021 by Dalhousie University indicates that only 21.4% of Canadians will think about food’s bioactive properties when purchasing fruits or vegetables. However, 48% of Canadians eat fruits and vegetables to reduce cancer risks. These trends indicate that there are a lot of prospects to bring the concept of functional foods to Canadian consumers. The same survey indicated that the major barrier to fruit and vegetable consumption is the cost (39.5%). Thus, the promotion of bioactive enriched fresh or supplemented food as functional foods requires government policies to make them available at affordable prices.

With the recent trends in foods, Canada has comparative advantages to manufacture many functional foods and ingredients for the local and global market. These include, but are not limited to, pulse protein hydrolysates and bioactive peptides, healthy vegan lipids from oil seed crops and cultivated microalgae, prebiotic fibres from diverse crops, their processing by-products, upcycled ingredients, and immunity-enhancing phytochemicals and micronutrients from cultivated super-berries and vertically farmed green leafy vegetables. In Canada, innovative food manufacturing is urgently required for promoting and expanding fermented food and gluten-free supplemented food for special dietary use such as weight management, cognitive health, and healthy aging.

Young consumers are also looking for sustainably healthy food with ethical and humane production.

PURPLE

THE PRODUCTION OF PURPLE WHEAT IS RESULTING IN A PROMISING HEALTHY FOOD INGREDIENT AND A GROWING MARKET

By El-Sayed M. Abdel-Aal, Research Scientist, Guelph Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Global demands for calories and protein crops are projected to increase by about 100% and 110% by 2050, respectively. In this regard, wheat is not only one of the major crops, but also one of the most favored food sources around the globe. This is because of its unique techno-functionality to form viscoelastic dough that retains gas produced either by a chemical (e.g. baking powder) or biological (e.g. yeast fermentation) process to make a diverse array of delicious foods such as breads, pastries, cakes and others. Wheat is also available in various colours (red, amber, white, purple, and blue) for processing it into naturally coloured and aesthetically attractive foods such as pastas and snacks. In addition, there are hard and soft wheat that can be milled into flours with a wide range of qualities for different food uses. And, wheat can be planted in winter or spring for efficient farming, supporting sustainable food systems.

A growing market

The whole grain wheat products, especially coloured wheats, are considered functional ingredients due to their healthenhancing properties. This year the global market for functional food ingredients is estimated at US$90.4 billion and is projected to reach US$118.4 billion by 2026. This

demonstrates the significant role of wheat in health and economy.

Purple or blue wheat is a special anthocyanin-pigmented grain with similar characteristics to regular wheat. However, it’s considered a functional ingredient due to its health-promotion and disease-prevention characteristics. Anthocyanin pigments are abundantly present in fruits, vegetables, flowers, grains and leaves which impart them a vibrant blue, purple or red hue. The Canadian purple wheat was developed by the university of Saskatchewan through a successful traditional breeding program led by Dr. Hucl (wheat breeder) and Dr. Abdel-Aal (food chemist) as a codeveloper of the cultivar CDC Primepurple registered in 2013.

Purple wheat is primarily grown around Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and processed by a Saskatoon-based company, InfraReady Products Ltd., under the brand AnthoGrain. Purple wheat is planted in a similar way to other Prairie spring wheat with the cost of production and grain yield being about the same. At present, the Canadian purple wheat food market is a thriving one, with an estimated value of CAD$20 million, with roughly 40% generated through exports. In general, the coloured grain market (purple or blue wheat, purple corn and red or black rice) is growing rapidly domestically and globally.

Anthocyanin Pigments in Purple Wheat

Anthocyanins are water soluble pigments belonging to flavonoids, a member of polyphenols. They are plant compounds that play significant roles in human health and the survivability of plants. They protect plants against oxidative stress and UV radiation due to their functions as free radical scavengers and light filters. They also contribute to plant pollination and seed dispersal as being attractants for insects. Anthocyanins are also important components of the human diet with a daily intake of 12.5 mg in the United States, primarily from eating fruits and vegetables. In Australia, the average daily intake is 24.2 mg, and in Europe 19.8-64.9 mg in men, and 18.4-44.1 mg in women. The consumption of anthocyanins is different among countries and regions subject to the type of diet and gender. Currently a body of evidence has demonstrated the positive functions of anthocyanins in the areas of oxidative stress, obesity, diabetes, inflammation, vision and cancer. The availability of anthocyanin-rich wheat products would boost the daily intake of anthocyanins and promote the health of consumers.

Based on the analysis of 13 genotypes of purple, blue and non-pigmented wheat materials, our research team has identified two distinct anthocyanin profiles for coloured wheats (i.e. purple versus blue). The blue profile is characterized by the presence of delphinidin-based anthocyanins, while cyanidin-related anthocyanins in nonacylated and acylated forms are the prevailing compounds in the purple profile. This data is crucial in the selection of appropriate breeding lines since differences in anthocyanin composition influence colour stability and efficacy of anthocyanin compounds.

Purple products

Several primary products are made from purple wheat as health-enhancing and functional food ingredients, including whole grain flour, purple wheat bran, purple wheat flakes, and purple wheat anthocyanin-rich powder. Five anthocyanin compounds constitute about 92% of the total anthocyanin content in purple wheat bran, named cyanidin-3-(6-malonyl glucoside) (35%) followed by cyanidin-3-glucoside (27%), cyanidin-3-rutinoside (20%), peonidin-3-glucoside (6%) and peonidin-3-(6-malonylglucoside) (4%). The same compounds are also the major ones in the anthocyanin-rich powder, accounting for 96% of the total anthocyanin content, but they are present at different ratios compared to those in the bran fraction.

In particular, cyanidin-3-glucoside was the dominant pigment at 46% followed by peonidin-3-glucoside (20%), cyanidin-3-(6-malonyl glucoside) (19%), cyanidin-3rutinoside (7%) and peonidin-3-(6-malonylglucoside) (4%) in the anthocyanin-rich powder. The anthocyanin-rich powder is made from purple wheat bran using dry and wet separation technologies, i.e., dry milling to separate bran and wet extraction to concentrate anthocyanin pigments, and could be used as a healthy ingredient in cosmetics and healthcare

industries. The powder contains significantly higher levels of anthocyanin than purple wheat bran (81-135 times higher). It has a vibrant hue and the ability to inhibit oxidation with great potential to serve as a natural colourant and/or antioxidant to enhance the shelf life and health benefits of products.

Purple Wheat Functional Foods and their Role in Health

Several purple wheat food products were developed by our research team at Guelph Research and Development Centre—Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, in collaboration with the universities of Guelph and Saskatchewan and InfraReady Products. These products include purple wheat convenience bars, crackers, bread, pancakes and porridge, and possess a wide range of nutrient concentrations, anthocyanin composition and antioxidant properties subject to the food recipe and processing method.

Purple wheat bread, pancakes and porridge contain higher protein levels (17-19%) compared with bars and crackers (7-11%). The bran-enriched purple wheat products are rich in dietary fiber (16-33%). The crackers and bars have the highest anthocyanin content (56 and 42 ug/g, respectively) and were further evaluated based on their health-enhancing properties. Further research was conducted to assess the potential of purple wheat bars and crackers in human health. With acute consumption of purple wheat bars and crackers by healthy adults, rapid absorption and excretion of anthocyanin and phenolic acid metabolites is observed with no short-term impacts on plasma antioxidant activity or the inflammatory biomarkers.

In a second intervention study, it was discovered that consumption of four servings of purple wheat bars (intervention group) or regular wheat bars (control group) for eight weeks by overweight and obese adults with chronic inflammation induces modest and more pronounced reductions in plasma tumour necrosis factor alpha—an inflammatory cytokine biomarker—in the pooled and regular wheat participants, respectively. For the purple wheat group, the concentrations of plasma interleukin-6—a pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine biomarker—and fasting glucose are reduced significantly. Both groups displayed comparable levels of plasma phenolic metabolites and oxidative stress biomarkers at the baseline and remained unchanged over the study period. The results support that 8-week consumption of whole grain wheat products show potential to improve plasma biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress in participants with evidence of chronic inflammation, with modestly greater effects for the purple wheat variety.

In general, a nthocyanin-rich ingredients from purple wheat hold great potential as functional ingredients for food and non-food industries, though, there remains much more research to conduct in order to better understand the benefits of purple wheat and to improve their stability and applicability as major food ingredients

F I V E

F U N CT I O N A L FO O DS THAT YOU MAY NOT HAVE HEARD

OF BEFORE

By Yvonne V. Yuan, PhD, School of Nutrition, Toronto Metropolitan University

While the terms functional foods, nutraceuticals, and even superfoods have been a part of the food and agriculture industry, lay media, and everyday vernacular for many years now, the first two terms were defined in a 1998 policy paper from Therapeutic Products Programme and the Food Directorate of the Health Protection Branch of Health Canada. A functional food is “similar in appearance to, or may be, a conventional food, is consumed as part of a usual diet, and is demonstrated to have physiological benefits and/or reduce the risk of chronic disease beyond basic nutritional functions, while, a nutraceutical is “a product isolated or purified from foods that is generally sold in medicinal forms not usually associated with food. A nutraceutical is demonstrated to have a physiological benefit or provide protection against chronic disease.”

On the other hand, the terms “superfood” and “superfruit” began to appear around 2004 as marketing terms within the food and beverage industry to describe richly pigmented vegetables and fruits, particularly berries (e.g., goji, açai, cranberry, seabuckthorn, blueberry, blackberry and raspberry) with demonstrated in vitro antioxidant capacity and potential epidemiological links to healthful effects in reducing diet-related chronic disease risk factors.

The desire to include healthful foods, and functional foods in particular, in our diets to improve or maintain physical health, immunity, and even mental health has been consistent over the years in the face of an increasing body of knowledge about how foods can affect our bodies and even moods. Therefore, it is not surprising that since March 2020, with the onset of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic, consumers, self-isolating at home, have renewed their focus on self-care, health, immunity, and sustainability of the foods we choose to purchase.

Some estimates indicate that the functional foods market in Canada could potentially increase two-fold or greater from a value of approximately $9.67 billion in 2014 to $16.73 billion in 2022 and ultimately $20.80 billion in 2025. Further analyses of the functional food market by product class indicated that dairy products accounted for 39.4% of market share due to their ease of use as delivery systems of functional food ingredients, followed by bakery and confectionary, fish and eggs, soy products, and pulse-based, flax-based and canola-based products, including fats and oils among others. What is nice to see from this breakdown of market is the importance of Canadian agriculture in many of these commodities that make up functional foods.

Five functional foods to pay attention to:

EDIBLE SEAWEEDS OR SEA VEGETABLES

More than just the Nori (Porphyra tenera, a red seaweed that when roasted, turns green due to the underlying chlorophyll) in your California or other sushi maki rolls, Kombu kelp (Laminaria digitata) in your miso soup, or Wakame kelp (Undaria pinnatifida) seaweed salad, edible seaweeds have a rich culture and history in coastal communities across the globe, including the west and east coasts of Canada.

Atlantic Canadians have long harvested Irish Moss (Chondrus crispus) and Dulse (Palmaria palmata)—both red seaweeds—for gelling properties (i.e., carrageenan soluble fibre in products such as Irish moss drink, seaweed pie) and protein content, respectively.

Indigenous peoples of the Pacific coast including Haida and Tlingit, Tshimshian, Wakashan, and Salish peoples harvest red seaweeds (Porphyra abbottiae) for nutrition and medicinal purposes as well as trade. As photosynthetic organisms, seaweeds are naturally rich in antioxidants such as tocopherols, carotenoids including beta-carotene and fucoxanthin, phlorotannins; contain small amounts of omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) including arachidonic acid, linolenic acid and EPA, as well as protein, vitamins, minerals, and insoluble and soluble fibres.

Blue-green microalgae such as Spirulina, perhaps better known as part of macrobiotic diets, are regarded as rich sources of proteins, PUFAs, and carotenoids. As functional foods, there is a rich body of evidence from in vitro, animal, and clinical studies that seaweeds may help reduce the risk of diet-related chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease and breast and colon cancers.

FERMENTED FOODS INCLUDING KEFIR, SAUERKRAUT, TEMPEH

Fermented foods have been part of many cultures for millennia, due to the capacity of naturally occurring or inoculated bacteria, yeasts, or moulds to extend the shelf life of the foodstuffs and reduce the risk of foodborne illnesses from pathogenic bacteria.

Other benefits of fermentation include reduction in levels of lactose in dairy products for the lactose intolerant; production of amino acids or biologically active peptides, organic acids, and flavour compounds; potential probiotic effects of lactic acid bacteria in colonizing the gastrointestinal tract; the conversion of constituents such as phenolic compounds (e.g., flavonoids) into biologically active metabolic products; and the potential production of prebiotic carbohydrate-based metabolites during fermentation.

Kefir (produced from fermenting milk with kefir grains containing various yeasts, and lactic, and acetic acid, producing bacteria) has been reported to exhibit antimicrobial activity in vitro associated with fermentation products including organic acids, ethanol, carbon dioxide, etc.

Milk protein (casein-derived) peptides have demonstrated immune system stimulation in animal studies. Various strains of lactic acid bacteria demonstrated the potential to colonize the gastrointestinal tract and increase the population of Lactobacillus, Lactococcus and Bifidobacterium in animal studies. However, much less is known about non-dairy water kefir.

Sauerkraut is traditionally the result of a wildfermentation of cabbage initiated by salt-tolerant Leuconostoc and Lactobacillus species, but can also result from commercially available starter cultures. Sauerkrautderived Lactobacilli have demonstrated probiotic potential and antimicrobial activity in vitro. Sauerkraut fermentation products have been shown to increase antioxidant enzyme

systems in animal models, as well as result in glucosinolate breakdown products with free radical scavenging activity.

Tempeh is produced by incubating boiled, dehulled soybeans with Rhizopus mould species to create a proteinrich patty or cake. Tempeh has been shown to contain lower phytic acid and protease inhibitors, which are naturally occurring antinutrients in raw soybeans. Tempeh constituents also demonstrate free-radical scavenging activity in vitro thought to be related to polyphenol molecules. Health effects of tempeh still require clinical investigations.

MUSHROOMS

There are approximately 2000 varieties of edible mushrooms, including the common white button, brown crimini, portobello/portobella (all are of the genus Agaricus bisporus but differ in maturity), shitake ( Lentinus edodes), oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus), and chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius) mushrooms. Other wild-harvested highly valued varieties include the matsutake (Tricholoma matsutake), morel ( Morchella esculenta), and porcini ( Boletus edulis) mushrooms, among others.

Global mushroom production has been steadily increasing, with Canadian mushroom growers producing 132,589 metric tonnes of mushrooms in 2020, led by Ontario and British Columbia.

CHIA SEEDS

Chia (Salvia hispanica) seeds also have an ancient history of use as oilseeds by the Mayans of southeast Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador, as well as the Aztecs of central Mexico (the name is a derivation of the Spanish “chian” or “chien” meaning “oily”). In fact, the Aztecs and Maya used whole and ground chia seeds in medicines and foods, as well as for oil extraction.

Chia seed constituents with potential biological activities include the omega-3 PUFA alpha-linolenic acid as a precursor of EPA and DHA; dietary fibres ranging between 34-40 g/100 g, including 5-10% soluble fibre or mucilage, with the remainder insoluble fibre; as well as antioxidants such as tocopherols, phenolic acids and flavonoids.

When diabetic patients consumed 37 grams of chia per day as chia flour bread and additional seeds to sprinkle on foods for 12 weeks, there was a small decrease in plasma glucose, decreased C-reactive protein, and decreased systolic blood pressure by approximately 6 mm Hg. The soluble fibre component of chia is noted to absorb up to 12-fold their mass of water as a gel, resulting in such uses as an addition to yogurt to form a pudding. Chia, soluble fibre can result in increased satiety and slowed carbohydrate digestion.

Mushrooms are generally regarded as low-fat sources of soluble (e.g., beta-glucan, chitosan) and insoluble (chitin) fibres (3 g/100 g fresh wt.), protein (3 g/100 g fresh wt.), minerals and ergosterol (provitamin D2), terpenes, terpenoids and phenolic acids, as well as having “umami” flavour, enhancing capacity from glutamate. The phenolic acids of mushrooms are thought to be responsible for the free-radical scavenging activities of oyster, white button, chanterelle mushrooms as well as others. As aromatic compounds, terpenes and their terpenoid derivatives such as those extracted from chaga mushrooms (Inonotus obliquus) have been reported to exert hypoglycemic antidiabetic effects; decreased serum cholesterol, triacylglycerols and lipid oxidation products; and increased antioxidant enzyme activity in animal studies.

A variety of mushrooms have been used in bakery (cakes, bread, biscuits) and meat-based or meatless formulations. When a water-soluble polysaccharide fraction was extracted and purified from matsutake mushrooms, the extract showed anti-tumor activity against implanted sarcoma (soft tissue tumours) cells in mice, potentially associated with a stimulated cell-mediated immune response.

These functional foods have in common ancient histories of use across the globe, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, insoluble and soluble fibres to support basic nutrition and health, but also many potentially biologically active molecules that can influence chronic disease risk factors, immunity and gut health.

Clean label colouring

ROHA’s Niveous offers a range of solutions for confectionery and beverage applications. NIVEOUS colors are starch and/or calcium carbonate-based compounds that offer strong whitening and opacity effects. Niveous has the ability to remain stable under fluctuating heat and light and can be applied without any manufacturing process changes. The products are 100% natural, clean label, and completely preservative-free. www.roha.com

Frying oil that’s always perfect

The FreshFry Frying Oil Test Kit tests the contaminant levels in fryer oil, which indicates when it’s time to filter or change out your frying oil. The oil testing kit promotes cleaner oil filtration and makes sure oil is in the “sweet spot” to optimally cook fried food. Taking a sample of your fry oil with the dropper lets you visually compare the color to best determine if the oil is reusable or ready to be discarded. Maintaining clean, fresh oil enhances the flavor and overall appearance of fried foods. www.freshfry.me

Latest in temperature transmitters

The Endress+Hauser newly developed iTEMP TMT31 temperature transmitter for analog 4-20mA signals is characterized by its long-term stability, high accuracy, and ease of use, making it an important pillar for reliable temperature measurement in process automation. Temperature transmitters are an important link between temperature sensors and higher levels of automation in the process industries. www.endress.com

SmartShelf for Automated Inventory Management

Weighing pads in the Mettler Toledo SmartShelf helps automate inventory management in the warehouse or on the production line. Weighing sensors remotely monitor inventory levels. The open design of the SmartShelf enables simple integration into existing infrastructure to automatically collect weight-based data in real-time. www.mt.com

Processing trays with green appeal

TekniPlex has launched a new line of 100% PET processor trays that address common packaging challenges in the poultry industry. particularly higher-end products such as those labeled organic, non-GMO or sustainably-sourced. The new trays contain up to 50% post-industrial recycled content, are 100% recyclable, and appeal to consumer demand for sustainability. www.tekni-plex.com

Sucking waste out of your oven

Frontline International’s Direct Plumb Oven System connects directly to ovens and rotisseries to suck waste products into a containment caddy. Its hose attachment plugs into the cooking units to automatically suction out fats and grease from the equipment’s drip pan with no handling, dumping, or exposure to material required. Simply wheel the sealed caddy over to your used oil containment tank and pump the collected grease out of the caddy and into the tank using the same hose attachment. www.frontlineii.com

A compact powerhouse mixer

New mobile conveying system

A new Flexicon Mobile Sanitary IBC Unloading and Conveying System transfers contamination-sensitive bulk solid materials from intermediate bulk containers to downstream processes, dust-free. The system is mounted on casters for in-plant mobility, while a hinged subframe supports a surge hopper, flexible screw conveyor, and pivoting support mast. www.flexicon.com

Gericke’s GMS Compact Mixer brings great mixing quality for volumes from 1 to 20 litres. It uses the same mixing tools as bigger GMS mixers, which enables accurate process and recipe development. It can also be used for pre-mixes or other direct process steps. It empties completely after a batch and is ideal for frequent recipe changes. www.gerickegroup.com

AI-powered sorting

Key Technology recently introduced its AI-driven Sort-to-Grade (STG) which uses advanced algorithms for sorting potato strips, resolve clumps of overlapping product and better identify individual strips. This enables precision measurement of each strip on the production line.

Leveraging this powerful software on a Key digital sorter such as VERYX helps to reduce costs, maintenance, and floor space. www.key.net

An Indigenous line of finely balanced seasonings

The Épices du Guerrier/Warrior Blends line of seasonings was developed by the First Nations of Quebec. Each of the blends are carefully balanced bouquets of the finest herbs, spices, and salts. Everything that’s blended is cultivated by hand to ensure premium freshness and unmatched flavour. www.epicesduguerrier.com

Regulatory pathway for the use of CBD in non-prescription health products?

Consultations are underway as science-based evidence is sought from stakeholders and the general public

By Sean Tarry

July

28, 2022, may not yet seem like a very important date.

However, allowing for the passing of some time, it will continue to gain significance. On that mid-summer’s day, the Canadian federal government announced its decision to commence consultations and elicit stakeholder insights and feedback in order to begin developing a consensus concerning the creation of a regulatory pathway to permit the use of cannabidiol (CBD) in products.

The government’s decision arrives on the heels of a Report of the Science Advisory Committee on Health Products Containing Cannabis, which highlighted a number of research-driven recommendations meant to guide and inform Health Canada on this issue, facilitating the development of regulations that would permit the sale of non-prescription CBD products in certain over the counter settings.

Significant impact?

It’s a move that could very well pose far-reaching ramifications for those involved in the Canadian health food industry, including its manufacturers, purveyors, and consumers, substantially changing its landscape and future trajectory. However, Health Canada is quick to point out that there have not yet been any decisions made concerning the issue beyond that of commencing consultation with stakeholders.

“Health Canada is exploring a potential framework for non-prescription health products containing CBD,” reads a statement from Health Canada. “The Committee’s final report is one of many sources of input that Health Canada is considering as it continues to develop a potential framework for these types of products, including feedback from interested stakeholders and the public. The Department has not approved any non-prescription health products containing CBD and has not made any decisions pertaining to the Committee’s advice, including the Committee’s recommended doses for potential products.”

Booming market

According to a report recently developed and published by Data Bridge Market Research, the world’s CBD market is expected to rise significantly over the next half decade, showing a potential growth rate of an astounding 27.8% by 2029. It’s certainly an impressive rate of growth for an industry that has yet to even be given the opportunity to blossom in North America. However, given the regulated oversight that the product receives throughout most of Europe, as well as in other countries around the world, its popularity is noticeably gaining. And with good reason.

In addition to offering a prognostication concerning future growth of the CBD market, the report also provides analyses of the potential drivers influencing its rapid rise. Among them, the report suggests that advancements in technology related to state-of-the-art CBD drug treatments and a broader recognition within the healthcare sector of the range of possible benefits that CBD presents is helping to enhance awareness around, and interest in, the product.

In addition, an increased focus among many people around the world paid toward their own health and fitness, as well as the well-being of family members and loved ones, is also creating a positive impact for the product.

What’s next?

With respect to next steps, government is currently seeking updated information on the types of health products containing CBD for which industry may wish to manufacture and market, and consumers may wish to purchase and use, should a legal pathway for these products be established. This can include the types of products, the intended uses, formats, dosages and any other considerations regarding the potential market for such products.

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