Dr Harjinder Singh, of Palmerston North, CNZM for services to food science
Dr Harjinder Singh has made outstanding contributions to food science. He has investigated structure-function relationships in food colloids, providing new insights into molecular interactions in food systems and how they alter following food processing. His prolific publications have ranked him as Oceania’s number one food scientist. He has translated his scientific findings to commerce, achieving significant industrial outcomes. With his team he invented an encapsulation technology for omega-three fatty acids, which allows the incorporation of fish oil into foods at high levels. His FerriPro technology brings affordable iron nutrition to the developing world and has been commercialised by the Nestlé-Riddet institute partnership, earning significant royalties for Massey University and the Riddet Institute, of which he is Director. Dr Singh contributed to development of functional milk protein products for Fonterra.