World Food Prize goes to Dutch food safety scientist Huub Lelieveld

25 October 2026

The World Food Prize for 2026 has gone to Huub Lelieveld, a Dutch scientist honoured for six decades of work in food safety research, advocacy and institution-building.
The award was presented at the opening ceremony of the Borlaug International Dialogue at Des Moines, Iowa.
FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said at the ceremony that food that makes people sick does not feed them.
Unsafe food affects an estimated 866 million people.
In low and middle income countries alone it costs about 110 billion dollars a year in lost productivity and medical expenses.
More than 1,000 participants from over 60 countries and 600 organizations attended, including four agriculture ministers and past laureates.