ChemE Professor Levente Diosady has received the Babcock-Hart Award from the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT). This honour is awarded annually to a member of the IFT whose contributions to food technology have resulted in improved public health through nutrition or more nutritious food. The award is named after agricultural chemists Stephen Babcock and Edwin Hart who together devised the “single-grain experiment,” which was the start of modern nutritional science.

Professor Diosady is one of Canada’s leading food engineers. His research has improved vegetable oil processing, edible-oil refining, micronutrient fortification and meat curing. Over the past 15 years, Professor Diosady has worked to develop techniques for fortifying staple foods such as salt, sugar and rice with micronutrients to combat vitamin and mineral deficiencies, which adversely affect some two billion people worldwide. His research has led to cost-effective and easy-to-maintain solutions to micronutrient deficiencies, such as anaemia, in developing nations.

A triple alumnus of U of T, Professor Diosady was inducted into our Hall of Distinction in 2004. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, the Chemical Institute of Canada and the Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology. Earlier this year, he was inducted into the Order of Ontario.

“Professor Diosady exemplifies our Faculty’s mission to apply innovative engineering solutions to global problems,” said Cristina Amon, Dean, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.  “I am delighted that he continues to be recognized for his outstanding achievements in food engineering.”

Professor Diosady will be recognized at the IFT’s Annual Meeting and Food Expo in Chicago on July 17, 2010.