Kelley Fitzpatrick
Kelley Fitzpatrick, M.Sc. is the President of NutriScience Solutions. In this capacity, Kelley has 20 years of expertise in grant writing, project management and administering funding for national multi-centre studies and activities. Her company provides services in the areas of regulatory reviews and submissions; scientific presentations, bibliographies, newsletters and articles; due diligence and feasibility studies, business plans and market trend analyses for food and health, natural health products (NHP) and functional foods.
Her clients include trade associations, federal government departments, provincial agriculture and health departments, and private industry. Ms. Fitzpatrick has a Master of Science degree in Nutrition from the University of Manitoba and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Winnipeg.
Kelley is a recognized expert in “all things” related to flaxseed having led initiatives in research, marketing and promotional activities for over 15 years. Kelley has worked in the areas of human and animal health, industrial fibre and oil, and plant breeding and agronomy, first as the Project Manager for Flax Canada 2015 and then as a Technical Advisor for the Flax Council of Canada. During this period, she led the development of successful funding applications of close to $25 million from provincial and federal government sources. Through her work with all segments of the flax industry, government, the research community and consumers, Kelley has been instrumental in establishing strategies aimed at increasing the overall economic value of the sector.
Regulatory Achievements
Among her team’s accomplishments are significant regulatory successes for flax including:
United States Food and Drug Administration
GRAS (Generally recognized as Safe) Notices:
Whole and milled flaxseed – GRN 000280 (2009)
The approval of GRAS involved compiling safety and toxicological data, and human clinical research outcomes specific to food safety. The package was reviewed and approved by a four person team of Scientific Experts recognized by the FDA for its ability to deem food ingredients as GRAS for designated applications. Some 210 research papers on flax were assessed in the GRAS application. Increasingly, to be accepted in the mass food industry in the U.S., a ‘new’ food ingredient needs to be shown to be GRAS, or free of harmful toxins or unsafe side effects. GRAS includes whole and milled flaxseed as sources of α-linolenic acid and fibre.
Health Canada, Bureau of Nutritional Sciences
Approved blood cholesterol lowering health claim for whole and milled flaxseed (2014) Health Canada approved a health claim linking ground whole milled flaxseed to blood cholesterol lowering, a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The claim is only one of thirteen approved in Canada. The clinical research supporting this claim showed that flaxseed intake may decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease between 1 and 18 percent.
Communications
Kelley Fitzpatrick is a sought after speaker on flax. She provides presentations on the nutritional science supporting flax consumption for health and wellness. Kelley also speaks on industry and consumer trends and on regulatory aspects affecting the flax sector. Kelley has given close to 400 presentations locally, nationally and internationally including in the United States, Japan, Korea, China, Philippines, Chile, Turkey, Europe, the Middle East and Australia. Communicating the many health and wellness properties of flax has been a top priority over the years for Kelley. Either alone or conjunction with her scientific team members, she has written extensively about flax and has numerous articles published by many sources.