World Food Prize awarded to scientist credited with preventing millions of foodborne illnesses

Huub Lelieveld received the World Food Prize for developing hygienic food processing methods that the prize organization says have helped avert millions of foodborne illnesses; he also founded the Global Harmonization Initiative to promote food safety and trade regulations.

Huub Lelieveld of the Netherlands received the World Food Prize for his work on modern food processing safety standards. He has spent six decades advancing hygienic production methods and advocating for trade regulations that allow safe food to move more easily. Lelieveld developed and scaled new manufacturing methods while at Unilever and published the research so it could be used more widely. The prize organization credited his work with averting millions of foodborne illnesses and reducing food waste. Key facts: - Huub Lelieveld was honored by the World Food Prize for contributions to food safety and hygienic production methods. - He spent about four decades at Unilever, where he developed and scaled hygienic manufacturing approaches and published the findings. - Lelieveld founded the Global Harmonization Initiative in 2004 to promote consensus in food and trade regulations and to support food safety education. - The World Health Organization estimates unsafe food causes about 600 million illnesses and 420,000 deaths each year; the prize cited prevention of millions of cases. - The World Food Prize was founded by Norman Borlaug and includes a $500,000 award. Summary: The award recognizes Lelieveld's role in shaping modern food safety practices and highlights ongoing efforts by his Global Harmonization Initiative to promote harmonized food and trade rules. Undetermined at this time.