The growing interest among consumers in the link between diet and health makes functional food one of the fastest growing sectors in the global food industry, especially functional dairy products. Understanding consumer choices with respect to functional food is an important and relatively new research area. Given the credence nature of functional food attributes, labelling plays a key role in allowing consumers to make informed choices about foods with enhanced health attributes. In 2007, Canada launched a review of the regulatory system for health claims on functional foods, which included rules concerning the approval, labelling and verification of health claims. In 2010 two new health claims related to oat products and plant sterols were approved by Health Canada. An analysis of how consumers respond to health claim information is therefore timely. This thesis focuses on examining the effects of different types of labelling and verification of health claims on consumers stated preferences for a specific functional food product, Omega-3 milk. The analysis incorporates reference-dependent effects. This study improves the knowledge of Canadian consumer understanding of health claims and the impact of health claims on consumer choice. This research is one of the first studies to simultaneously examine the effects of different types of health claims (e.g. function claims, risk reduction claims and disease prevention claims) and other ways of signalling or implying health benefits (e.g. symbols) on Canadian consumers' functional food choices. This study contributes to the knowledge in this domain by providing a comparative analysis of different types of labelling strategies. The extant knowledge of labelling effects in the formats of risk reduction claims, disease prevention claims and symbols or imagery on functional foods is limited. One of the primary contributions of this study is addressing this gap in the literature. The theoretical framework of this thesis is based on random utility theory. A stated preference choice experiment is designed to examine consumers' response to Omega-3 milk under different labelling scenarios. Using data from an online survey of 740 Canadians conducted in summer 2009, discrete choice models, including Conditional Logit, Random Parameter Logit and Latent Class models, and Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) values are estimated. The results suggest that full labelling (function claims, risk reduction claims and disease prevention claims) is preferred over partial labelling (e.g. the use of a heart symbol to imply a health claim), but primarily for risk reduction claims. There is no significant difference between a function claim, such as "good for your heart" and partial labelling in the form of a red heart symbol. The results also suggest that consumers on average respond positively to verification of health claims by government and the third party agencies, however, the Latent Class models reveal considerable heterogeneity in consumer attitudes toward the source of verification. The influences of key-socio-demographic (e.g. income, education and health status) and attitudinal factors (e.g. attitude, trust and knowledge) provide further insights into consumer responses in the choice experiment to identify different consumer segments. Moreover, the results reveal reference-dependent effects where perceived losses of ingredient or price attributes have a greater influence on consumer choice than perceived gains. In terms of industry and public policy implications, this study suggests that food manufacturers in Canada would benefit from the ability to make more precise health claims. The implications derived from the Latent Class Models could help the Canadian functional food industry to identify target consumer segments with different characteristics for the purpose of developing marketing strategies. Furthermore, the results of this study suggest that Canadian consumers are receptive to both full labelling and partial labelling. It indicates that public policy makers need to pay attention to effectively regulating health claims for functional foods so as to balance the need for credible health claims to facilitate the development of the functional food sector with the imperative of protecting consumers from misleading health claims. Public policy makers should also be aware that the verification of health claims plays an important role in reducing consumers' uncertainty and making health claims more credible.

The nutritional value of flaxseed meal (FSM), a by-product of the flax crushing industry, has not been evaluated properly for use within swine rations. A series of experiments were conducted to determine the nutritional profile of this novel feed ingredient for pigs.<p>The analysis of FSM revealed that it contains, on a dry matter (DM) basis, 133 g/kg ether extract (EE), 345 g/kg crude protein (CP), 60 g/kg ash, 164 g/kg ADF, 250 g/kg NDF, 102 g/kg crude fibre, 14 g/kg starch and 9 g/kg phosphorus. The gross energy (GE) content of the meal was 5.2 Mcal/kg DM. The ether extract fraction was characterized by, as a percent of total fat, 46.6% á-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid. Palmitic, stearic, oleic and linoleic acids accounted for 9.5, 4.8, 20.7 and 18.4% of the total fat content respectively. The crude protein content was well balanced for all amino acids with the exception of lysine (4.1% of CP), the level of which falls below that of the requirements for growing pigs (5.3% of CP for pigs 20-50 kg). The apparent digestibility of DM, nitrogen, ash, EE and GE as well as determination of the DE and NE content of FSM was determined for both growing pigs (32 pigs, initial weight 70 ± 3 kg) and gestating sows (26 pigs, parities 2 4). Animals were fed wheat/barley based diets containing 0, 10, 20 or 30% FSM. Faecal grab samples were collected for 3 days after a dietary adaptation period. The apparent digestibility of nutrients in FSM was determined both by regression and by difference calculations. As calculated by difference, the apparent digestibility coefficients for DM, nitrogen, ash, and GE were 63.0, 60.8, 22.3 and 60.5% respectively for growing pigs. The values obtained for sows were 64.1, 58.8, 20.8, 94.9 and 65.4% for DM, nitrogen, ash, EE and GE respectively. The DE content was 3.37 Mcal/kg for growing pigs and 3.52 Mcal/kg for sows. Net energy was then estimated by use of a prediction equation to be 2.34 and 2.44 Mcal/kg for growing pigs and sows. <p>An experiment was conducted to evaluate the growth performances and carcass fatty acid profiles of pigs fed with graded levels of FSM. A total of 200 pigs (100 barrows, 100 gilts; initial weight 32 ± 4 kg) were blocked by gender and housed in groups of 5 pigs per pen. The experiment was divided into three phases for pigs 32-60 kg, 60-85 kg and 85-115 kg. Each group was assigned to one of four dietary treatments containing 0, 5, 10 or 15% FSM at the expense of wheat and soybean meal. At the time of market, 6 pigs per treatment group were randomly selected for carcass fatty acid analysis, and backfat and rib-end loin samples were collected. The average daily gains, average daily feed intakes and gain to feed ratios were not affected by dietary treatment (P > 0.05). Inclusion of 15% dietary FSM increased the ALA content from 11 to 47 (± 0.8) mg/g of backfat (P < 0.001) and from 5 to 10 (± 0.4) mg/g of loin tissue (P < 0.001). Increasing dietary FSM decreased the saturated fatty acid content of backfat (P < 0.01). <p> The final experiment was designed to determine the availability of phosphorus in semi-synthetic diets containing FSM, and to determine the effects of microbial phytase inclusion of this availability. Five treatment groups, 8 barrows (45 ± 4 kg initial weight) each, were fed a diet containing 30% FSM with increasing levels of phytase (0, 575, 1185, 2400 and 2570 FTU/kg). Apparent P digestibility increased from 20.6 to 61.3% with the inclusion of up to 2570 FTU/kg microbial phytase (P < 0.001), and followed a quadratic response pattern with an R2 value of 0.96. A broken-line analysis estimated the optimal phytase inclusion level to be 1415 FTU/kg of diet. Inclusion of just 575 FTU/kg accounted for half of the response, improving the apparent P digestibility by 20% and reducing P excretion by 850 mg/kg dry matter intake.

The growing interest among consumers in the link between diet and health makes functional food one of the fastest growing sectors in the global food industry, especially functional dairy products. Understanding consumer choices with respect to functional food is an important and relatively new research area. Given the credence nature of functional food attributes, labelling plays a key role in allowing consumers to make informed choices about foods with enhanced health attributes. In 2007, Canada launched a review of the regulatory system for health claims on functional foods, which included rules concerning the approval, labelling and verification of health claims. In 2010 two new health claims related to oat products and plant sterols were approved by Health Canada. An analysis of how consumers respond to health claim information is therefore timely. This thesis focuses on examining the effects of different types of labelling and verification of health claims on consumers stated preferences for a specific functional food product, Omega-3 milk. The analysis incorporates reference-dependent effects. This study improves the knowledge of Canadian consumer understanding of health claims and the impact of health claims on consumer choice. This research is one of the first studies to simultaneously examine the effects of different types of health claims (e.g. function claims, risk reduction claims and disease prevention claims) and other ways of signalling or implying health benefits (e.g. symbols) on Canadian consumers' functional food choices. This study contributes to the knowledge in this domain by providing a comparative analysis of different types of labelling strategies. The extant knowledge of labelling effects in the formats of risk reduction claims, disease prevention claims and symbols or imagery on functional foods is limited. One of the primary contributions of this study is addressing this gap in the literature. The theoretical framework of this thesis is based on random utility theory. A stated preference choice experiment is designed to examine consumers' response to Omega-3 milk under different labelling scenarios. Using data from an online survey of 740 Canadians conducted in summer 2009, discrete choice models, including Conditional Logit, Random Parameter Logit and Latent Class models, and Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) values are estimated. The results suggest that full labelling (function claims, risk reduction claims and disease prevention claims) is preferred over partial labelling (e.g. the use of a heart symbol to imply a health claim), but primarily for risk reduction claims. There is no significant difference between a function claim, such as "good for your heart" and partial labelling in the form of a red heart symbol. The results also suggest that consumers on average respond positively to verification of health claims by government and the third party agencies, however, the Latent Class models reveal considerable heterogeneity in consumer attitudes toward the source of verification. The influences of key-socio-demographic (e.g. income, education and health status) and attitudinal factors (e.g. attitude, trust and knowledge) provide further insights into consumer responses in the choice experiment to identify different consumer segments. Moreover, the results reveal reference-dependent effects where perceived losses of ingredient or price attributes have a greater influence on consumer choice than perceived gains. In terms of industry and public policy implications, this study suggests that food manufacturers in Canada would benefit from the ability to make more precise health claims. The implications derived from the Latent Class Models could help the Canadian functional food industry to identify target consumer segments with different characteristics for the purpose of developing marketing strategies. Furthermore, the results of this study suggest that Canadian consumers are receptive to both full labelling and partial labelling. It indicates that public policy makers need to pay attention to effectively regulating health claims for functional foods so as to balance the need for credible health claims to facilitate the development of the functional food sector with the imperative of protecting consumers from misleading health claims. Public policy makers should also be aware that the verification of health claims plays an important role in reducing consumers' uncertainty and making health claims more credible.

Genetic epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+) is associated with a wide range of neurological dysfunction caused in part by limited function in voltage-gated sodium channels (Escayg & Goldin, 2010; Gambardella & Marini, 2009; Mulley et al., 2005). The seizure and behavioral phenotypes, as well as use of non-pharmacologic agents as neuroprotectants in GEFS+, are not well-understood. An experimental design used an animal model of GEFS+ to 1. explore the effects of stress on seizure phenotype, 2. examine behavioral phenotypes, and 3. study the effects of an omega 3 fatty acid on abnormal behaviors noted in the various paradigms. This study used C57BL/6J mice with the R1648H missense mutation on the Scn1a gene (engineered in the Escayg lab) (Martin, M. S. et al., 2010). The three specific aims used separate groups of animals for experimentation, and all paradigms were performed under strict laboratory conditions. Data were analyzed using either an independent t-tests, two-way ANOVA or repeated measures two-way ANOVA. Results showed that stress worsens seizure phenotype in both the Scn1aR1648H (RH) mutants and wild-type (WT) group with the RH mutants more severely impacted. In addition, there was clear and consistent evidence for hyperactive locomotor behavior. Lastly, no evidence was found for use of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, an omega 3 fatty acid) as a neuroprotectant for hyperactivity (DHA was given subcutaneously for two weeks starting at weaning). Outcomes from this study implicate that stress worsens the seizure phenotype in animals with Scn1aR1648H. This study is also the first to report hyperactive locomotor behavior in animals with Scn1aR1648H. Results from this study may broaden beyond GEFS+ in that we may also be able to apply the findings to other disorders with SCN1A dysfunction. In addition, it may be that genetic variants affecting SCN1A, but not necessarily in epilepsy, may contribute to hyperactivity. This could mean that SCN1A is a candidate gene for hyperactivity. The main goal of nursing care is to reduce and prevent disease morbidity, and knowledge gained from the current study will guide clinical nursing practice, such as targeted behavioral assessment and education, as well as nursing research focusing on children with this genetic disorder.

Conducting polymers (CP) have received great attention in both academic and industrial areas in recent years. They exhibit unique characteristics (electrical conductivity, solution processability, light weight and flexibility) which make them promising candidates for being used in many electronic applications. Recently, there is a renewed interest to consider those materials for thermoelectric generators that is for energy harvesting purposes. Therefore, it is of great importance to have in depth understanding of their thermal and electrical characteristics. In this diploma work, the thermal conductivity of PEDOT:PSS is investigated by applying 3-omega technique which is accounted for a transient method of measuring thermal conductivity and specific heat. To validate the measurement setup, two benchmark substrates with known properties are explored and the results for thermal conductivity are nicely in agreement with their actual values with a reasonable error percentage. All measurements are carried out inside a Cryogenic probe station with vacuum condition. Then a bulk scale of PEDOT:PSS with sufficient thickness is made and investigated. Although, it is a great challenge to make a thick layer of this polymer since it needs to be both solid state and has as smooth surface as possible for further gold deposition. The results display a thermal conductivity range between 0.20 and 0.25 (W.m-1.K-1) at room temperature which is a nice approximation of what has been reported so far. The discrepancy is mainly due to some uncertainty about the exact value of temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of the heater and also heat losses especially in case of heaters with larger surface area. Moreover, thermal conductivity of PEDOT:PSS is studied over a wide temperature band ranging from 223 - 373 K.

Currently, the labeling of functional food products is highly regulated in Canada. Although certain nutrient content claims and five generic health claims have been allowed, the inability to make additional nutrient content and health claims decreases functional food firms incentives to produce and commercialize new and healthy food products. This, in turn, has consequences for functional food demand, consumer welfare, and health care costs. The primary objective of this thesis is to examine the potential welfare implications of functional food labeling for Canadian society.<p>A benefit cost analysis is conducted to examine a specific case study of omega-3 enriched eggs. The benefit cost analysis evaluates the welfare effects of functional food labeling policy and helps realize the magnitude of potential benefits that could be gained if not for restrictive and complicated labeling regulations. Based on a range of assumptions and using three different scenarios to cover a range of estimates, the health benefits from the reduction in the risk of coronary heart disease due to the current consumption of omega-3 enriched eggs, and the production and labeling-related costs are estimated. By comparing the estimated benefits and costs, the results indicate that the current consumption of omega-3 enriched eggs provides a considerable net economic gain. Therefore, labeling information on health components can contribute to facilitating a healthy lifestyle with reduced medical costs, stimulating agricultural innovation, and increasing economic welfare.<p>Realizing the positive overall impact that the current consumption of omega-3 enriched eggs has on consumers health and economy in Canada, a possible policy that could regulate all eggs to be enriched with omega-3 fatty acids is proposed. This policy could potentially be used to correct not only information asymmetry but also the negative externalities that are created by health and disability insurances. The benefit cost analysis show that the health benefits would be greatly increased while costs would slightly increase due to reduced labeling-related costs. Therefore, the results indicate that the net economic gain is even stronger if the mandatory development of omega-3 enriched eggs were required.

The nutritional value of flaxseed meal (FSM), a by-product of the flax crushing industry, has not been evaluated properly for use within swine rations. A series of experiments were conducted to determine the nutritional profile of this novel feed ingredient for pigs.<p>The analysis of FSM revealed that it contains, on a dry matter (DM) basis, 133 g/kg ether extract (EE), 345 g/kg crude protein (CP), 60 g/kg ash, 164 g/kg ADF, 250 g/kg NDF, 102 g/kg crude fibre, 14 g/kg starch and 9 g/kg phosphorus. The gross energy (GE) content of the meal was 5.2 Mcal/kg DM. The ether extract fraction was characterized by, as a percent of total fat, 46.6% á-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid. Palmitic, stearic, oleic and linoleic acids accounted for 9.5, 4.8, 20.7 and 18.4% of the total fat content respectively. The crude protein content was well balanced for all amino acids with the exception of lysine (4.1% of CP), the level of which falls below that of the requirements for growing pigs (5.3% of CP for pigs 20-50 kg). The apparent digestibility of DM, nitrogen, ash, EE and GE as well as determination of the DE and NE content of FSM was determined for both growing pigs (32 pigs, initial weight 70 ± 3 kg) and gestating sows (26 pigs, parities 2 4). Animals were fed wheat/barley based diets containing 0, 10, 20 or 30% FSM. Faecal grab samples were collected for 3 days after a dietary adaptation period. The apparent digestibility of nutrients in FSM was determined both by regression and by difference calculations. As calculated by difference, the apparent digestibility coefficients for DM, nitrogen, ash, and GE were 63.0, 60.8, 22.3 and 60.5% respectively for growing pigs. The values obtained for sows were 64.1, 58.8, 20.8, 94.9 and 65.4% for DM, nitrogen, ash, EE and GE respectively. The DE content was 3.37 Mcal/kg for growing pigs and 3.52 Mcal/kg for sows. Net energy was then estimated by use of a prediction equation to be 2.34 and 2.44 Mcal/kg for growing pigs and sows. <p>An experiment was conducted to evaluate the growth performances and carcass fatty acid profiles of pigs fed with graded levels of FSM. A total of 200 pigs (100 barrows, 100 gilts; initial weight 32 ± 4 kg) were blocked by gender and housed in groups of 5 pigs per pen. The experiment was divided into three phases for pigs 32-60 kg, 60-85 kg and 85-115 kg. Each group was assigned to one of four dietary treatments containing 0, 5, 10 or 15% FSM at the expense of wheat and soybean meal. At the time of market, 6 pigs per treatment group were randomly selected for carcass fatty acid analysis, and backfat and rib-end loin samples were collected. The average daily gains, average daily feed intakes and gain to feed ratios were not affected by dietary treatment (P > 0.05). Inclusion of 15% dietary FSM increased the ALA content from 11 to 47 (± 0.8) mg/g of backfat (P < 0.001) and from 5 to 10 (± 0.4) mg/g of loin tissue (P < 0.001). Increasing dietary FSM decreased the saturated fatty acid content of backfat (P < 0.01). <p> The final experiment was designed to determine the availability of phosphorus in semi-synthetic diets containing FSM, and to determine the effects of microbial phytase inclusion of this availability. Five treatment groups, 8 barrows (45 ± 4 kg initial weight) each, were fed a diet containing 30% FSM with increasing levels of phytase (0, 575, 1185, 2400 and 2570 FTU/kg). Apparent P digestibility increased from 20.6 to 61.3% with the inclusion of up to 2570 FTU/kg microbial phytase (P < 0.001), and followed a quadratic response pattern with an R2 value of 0.96. A broken-line analysis estimated the optimal phytase inclusion level to be 1415 FTU/kg of diet. Inclusion of just 575 FTU/kg accounted for half of the response, improving the apparent P digestibility by 20% and reducing P excretion by 850 mg/kg dry matter intake.

Fish provides important nutrients, including the omega-3 fatty acids (£s-3 PUFAs) but it also contains toxic contaminants, such as mercury (Hg) that may decrease the advantage of fish consumption. Therefore, balancing the nutritional requirements for £s-3 PUFAs and risks associated with mercury is an important issue for fish consumption. The aim of this study is to analyze the fatty acid compositions and mercury concentrations of several common wild and farmed fishes in Taiwan in order to evaluate the potential health benefits and risks of fish consumption. Wild and farmed fish sample were collected between 2010 and 2012 from trawlings, local fish markets, and aquaculture farms in western Taiwan. A total of 32 species of fish were collected. Dorsal muscle was dissected, dried, and homogenized. The proximate composition including crude lipid, crude protein, moisture, ash, and fatty acid composition, as well as mercury concentration in the muscle were analyzed. The fishes that were investigated were lean to medium in fat content. Content of £s-3 PUFAs were higher in the carnivorous fishes (0.96¡Ó0.62 g/100 g flesh weight) than in the herbivorous or omnivorous species (0.86¡Ó0.35 g/100 g flesh weight). The crude lipid contents in the wild fishes (6.7¡Ó3.7%) were lower in crude lipid contents than their farmed counterparts (12.1¡Ó7.5%). Fish £s-3 PUFAs concentrations were significantly increased with crude lipid content (p< 0.05). Mean mercury concentrations of all samples (0.048¡Ó0.038 mg/kg flesh weight) were lower than the common food safety standard (0.5 mg/kg flesh weight). Similar to the £s-3 PUFAs, the mean mercury concentrations were higher in the carnivorous fishes (0.06¡Ó0.04 mg/kg flesh weight) than in the herbivorous and omnivorous fishes (0.02¡Ó0.01 mg/kg flesh weight) and higher in the wild fishes (0.052 mg/kg flesh weight) than farmed fishes (0.031 mg/kg flesh weight). From the results of the present study, we can conclude that: to obtain the health benefits of the omega-3 fatty acids with a safe amount of mercury intake, the consumption of high EPA+DHA species (EPA+DHA concentrations are higher than 2 g/100 g flesh weight), such as croaker twice a week (3 oz/serving), or medium EPA+DHA species (EPA+DHA concentrations are between 1.02 to 1.34 g/100 g flesh weight),like fourfinger threadfin, Belanger¡¦s croaker, blue mackerel, and flathead grey mullet 3-4 times a week are desirable. In the case of consume tilapia or milkfish (EPA+DHA concentrations are between 0.60 to 0.72 g/100 g flesh weight) for cardiovascular disease preventative purposes, daily consumption of the fishes are beneficial. Furthermore, those people who have potential cardiovascular disease should double the amount of fish consumption suggested above. Accordingly, for those in the tropical Asian region, consumption of the amount of fish intake stated in this thesis would not exceed the safe Hg intake limit.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2002. / Bibliography: leaves 144-173.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.