British biochemiest Dr Derek Shrimpton dies

Dr Derek Shrimpton, a British biochemist who spent much of his life sharing his vast knowledge of food science, has died after being diagnosed with leukemia.

Dr Shrimpton earned a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Aberdeen, lectured at the Cambridge Technical College and University of Nottingham, spent 17 years working at Unilever and became Director General of the British Nutrition Foundation and an Honorary research Fellow in the Department of Clinical Medicine at the University of Bristol.

He was also an Honorary Research Fellow in the International Centre for Child Studies, a Member of the Court of the University of Surrey, a member of the governing body of the National Institute for Research in Dairying at the University of Reading, an industry observer on the Food Standards Agency Expert Group on Vitamins and Minerals.

Until December 2002 Dr Shrimpton was Honorary Scientific Adviser to the HFMA and then Scientific Adviser to European Federation of Associations of Health Product Manufacturers (EHPM) as well as a founding member of the International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplement Associations (IADSA) Scientific Group.

The UK Health Food Manufacturers’ Association (HFMA) presented him with its prestigious Award of Honour in 2006.

HFMA chairman, Martin Last, said: "Derek was a great friend and supporter of our industry. He was one of the first to recognise how sound scientific arguments could be used to powerful effect, for example to promote the case for Maximum Permitted Levels, and almost single handedly he transformed the European regulatory convention of multiples of RDA to one of individual risk assessment of micronutrients.”

“Derek was a true gentleman of the old school and a great scientist who continued to research, publish and present in support of our industry campaigns right up to the end. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him."

Simon Pettman, executive director of the global supplement association, IADSA, said: “Derek was quite simply one of the most positive and energetic people I have ever met as well as an extraordinarily creative thinker. He was an extremely kind and most unassuming man – and always seemed able to bring a new angle to tackling the most apparently insurmountable problems.”