Professor Margaret Patterson elected IFST President

The Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) has elected Prof Margaret Patterson its President. Margaret was invested as IFST President during IFST’s Spring conference, Securing the future supply of food on April 18th.

Margaret commented ”I am delighted to have been elected IFST President and am looking forward to working with the IFST team and Institute members. We need to do more to raise awareness of food science and technology and emphasise the critical role it plays in ensuring the food we eat is reliably safe and nutritious.“

“Issues such as the recent horsemeat scandal, for example, will inevitably affect the image of the sector and possibly impact on our ability to attract new talent. This means we will need to work doubly hard to ensure we encourage young people to consider careers in food science and technology.”

“Another important priority for me will be IFST’s golden jubilee in 2014 when we will be using the opportunity to celebrate past achievements but also looking to the future to explore the latest ideas and technologies across all disciplines in food science and technology.”

Prof Margaret Patterson is a Food Microbiologist at the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) in Belfast. Her primary degree is in Food Science and she also has a Master’s degree in Management and a PhD in Food Microbiology. Margaret’s area of expertise lies in the development and evaluation of new food processing technologies to ensure their safety and quality. She also serves on the Scientific Advisory Committee of Safefood – a body which promotes food safety throughout North and south Ireland. She has been seconded to the International Atomic Energy Agency as a food safety expert, and carried out food safety training for the World Health Organisation and the Food and Agricultural Organisation. Margaret has been a Fellow of IFST since 1980 and is a Chartered Scientist.

IFST’s Board of Trustees is also pleased to welcome Helen Munday of Coca-Cola Enterprises and Dr Richard Burt, formerly of the Food Standards Agency and IFST Past President, who will re-join the Board as Honorary Treasurer.