Dutch food scientist Huub Lelieveld has won the World Food Prize for shaping modern food processing safety standards used worldwide.
Hannah FingerhutHuub Lelieveld speaks at the National Chung Hsing University in Taichung, Taiwan, in 2019. – A scientist who pioneered the modern food processing safety standards used around the world was awarded this year’s World Food Prize, the organization announced Wednesday, crediting his work for averting millions of cases of foodborne illness and reducing food waste.
Huub Lelieveld of the Netherlands earned the award after six decades spent advancing ways to improve food safety and advocating for trade regulations that allow safe food to get around the world more easily.“I just did what I thought was right,” Lelieveld said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I want everybody to have enough food but … it should also be safe.” Lelieveld began his career as a food researcher at Unilever at a time when mechanisms for manufacturing safe food products were, to him, “illogical,” he said. Food was often sterilized or chemically preserved after production, and equipment needed to be shut off once or twice each day to be cleaned, which was both difficult and time consuming. The processed food also required heavy use of preservatives, salt, sugar and acids to reduce the risk of contamination, which detracted from flavor and nutrition. “I realized very soon that they did things in the wrong way, in my view,” Lelieveld said. “From the beginning, I’ve been working on … convincing people that you should do it in a different way.” Lelieveld worked with colleagues to develop hygienic production methods and equipment, making food manufacturing more efficient and less reliant on chemicals. Having scaled the processes at Unilever and proven that they worked, Lelieveld said the company gave him permission to publish the research for dissemination and use globally. “My philosophy was: You should not compete on food safety,” Lelieveld said. “Spreading the technology, the hygienic technology, was very important.”foodborne illnesses and 420,000 deaths each year, according to the World Health Organization. The Iowa-based World Food Prize was founded by Norman Borlaug, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work to dramatically increase crop yields and reduce the threat of starvation in many countries. The agricultural science honor includes a $500,000 award. After four decades at Unilever, Lelieveld founded the Global Harmonization Initiative in 2004 to promote consensus in food and trade regulations around the world. Drawing on a network of a few thousand scientists around the world, the nonprofit organization also works to address critical food security challenges and to facilitate food safety education. GHI “is extremely useful because it has this enormous pool of knowledge about food safety and food protection,” Lelieveld said. Lelieveld said challenges for broad access to safe food and water persist, and he hopes to see a system where people can produce safe food and water locally even if the movement of goods across borders is restricted. “You can’t stop the transport of water through the air, with the clouds,” he said. “You can produce safe water everywhere, but we need to distribute this knowledge to the people that need it and that is the biggest challenge.” Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Save money on tickets to the Alley Theatre in downtown Houston this month!Andy is covering the Texas Children's OpenUnited Airlines most elite passengers are getting a shortcut around long TSA wait timeHow Houston-area lawmakers respond to ongoing govt shutdown and if they'll forgo their paychecksHow Houston Open course conditions are similar to The MastersICE agents assisting at Hobby Airport in HoustonRising fuel prices also increasing cost of flightsHealth inspectors found thawed seafood, food stored in buckets at Mama Tina’s GumboSurviving the Spring allergy season in Houston!ICE agents helping TSA as Houston airports face long linesLegendary rodeo clown Leon Coffee transitions after retirement in HoustonCRAZY lines seen at Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport
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World Food Prize awarded to food safety scientistDutch food scientist Huub Lelieveld has won the World Food Prize for shaping modern food processing safety standards used worldwide. The organization made the announcement Wednesday and gave Lelieveld the $500,000 prize.
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World Food Prize goes to food safety scientist for preventing millions of cases of foodborne illness -DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A scientist who pioneered the modern food processing safety standards used around the world was awarded this year’s World Food Prize,
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World Food Prize goes to food safety scientist for preventing millions of cases of foodborne illnessDutch food scientist Huub Lelieveld has won the World Food Prize for shaping modern food processing safety standards used worldwide.
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World Food Prize goes to food safety scientist for preventing millions of cases of foodborne illnessDutch food scientist Huub Lelieveld has won the World Food Prize for shaping modern food processing safety standards used worldwide.
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