Allen honored by Food Technologists

Dr. Jonathan C. Allen, professor of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences, has received the 2012 Gilbert A. Leveille Award given by the Institute of Food Technologists.

The award, which was announced during the IFT annual meeting and food expo in June in Las Vegas, honors an IFT member “for outstanding research and/or public service at the interface between the disciplines of nutrition and food science, over a period of five years or more, which has contributed to improved health and well-being,” according to the IFT.

The IFT is a leading advocate for food science and a catalyst for change around the world, educating the media and policy makers and working with governments to shape regulations.

Allen is director of graduate programs in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences. He also directs the Interdepartmental Nutrition Program. Allen’s research is varied and uses human, animal and in vitro model systems to test the nutritional quality and bioavailability of nutrients.

His recent research on the utilization of whey permeate as a salt replacement and the extraction of edible and bioactive protein from sweet potato peel show how food industry by-products can improve the nutritional value of foods. Through his teaching, administration and program development activities, Allen has contributed to the understanding and potential amelioration of such chronic diseases as infant growth retardation, metabolic bone disease, diabetes and hypertension.