IFST President awarded OBE

IFST president Professor Margaret Patterson has been awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for Services to the Agri-Food Industry, especially relating to food safety and quality. On hearing of the award, Patterson said she was “totally surprised but absolutely delighted” to be given this honour.

She is the principal scientific officer at the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology and a chartered scientist. Patterson began her two-year term as president of IFST in 2013. She’s also previously served as president of the Society for Microbiology.

Earlier this year, Patterson was included in the Science Council list of top 100 practicing scientists in the UK. Margaret also serves on the Scientific Advisory Committee of Safefood – a North-South body which promotes food safety throughout the island of Ireland. She has been seconded to the International Atomic Energy Agency as a food safety expert, and has also carried out food safety training for the World Health Organisation and the Food and Agricultural Organisation. In 2012, she was made an Honorary Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at Queen’s University.

Her area of expertise lies in the development and evaluation of new food processing technologies to ensure their safety and quality. Much of her work involves liaising with the food industry, locally and internationally, to help bring these new technologies to a commercial reality.