Dr Elsie Widdowson BSc, PhD, CH, CBE, FRS was Head of Infant Nutrition Research at the Dunn Nutrition laboratory.
She studied chemistry at Imperial College, London and graduated with a BSc in 1928, becoming one of the first women graduates of Imperial College. She completed postgraduate work at the Department of Plant Physiology at Imperial College, receiving a PhD in chemistry in 1931 for her thesis on the carbohydrate content of apples. She did further research with Professor Charles Dodds at the Courtauld Institute of Biochemistry at Middlesex Hospital, on the metabolism of the kidneys, and also received a doctorate from the Courtauld Institute.
In 1934 she and Dr Robert McCance began working on the composition of various food items as the American tables carbohydrate content being used at the time were calculated by difference. They were co-authors of The Chemical Composition of Foods, first published in 1940 by the Medical Research Council. It is now regarded as the foremost nutrition publication and is the basis of most nutritional databases around the world.
She and McCance also headed the first mandated addition of vitamins and mineral to food. Their work began in the early 1940s, when calcium was added to bread. They were also responsible for formulating the wartime rationing of Britain during World War II.
She later became Head of Infant Nutrition Research at the Dunn Nutrition laboratory where she analyzed infant milks sold throughout Europe. After retiring in 1973 she moved to the Department of Investigative Medicine at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge where she held laboratory accommodation, PhD students and an office, which she maintained until 1988 when she retired for the second time.
She became president of the Neonatal Society from 1978, and president of the British Nutrition Foundation from 1986 to 1996. In 1979 her work had earned her a CBE.
She became a Fellow of Imperial College in 1994. She received numerous awards for her work including the Nutricia International Award, the James Spence medal and the Atwater award.