Levente Diosady

Ph.D., P.Eng., C.Eng, C.F.S., OC, O.Ont, F.C.I.C, F.C.A.E., F.C.I.F.S.T., F.A.O.C.S., F.I.A.Fo.S.T., F.E.C., F.R.S.C.
Professor Emeritus, Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto

Contact

• Phone: (416) 978-4137
• Email: l.diosady@utoronto.ca

Research Areas

Food process engineering, separation processes, nutraceuticals, micronutrient fortification

Consulting Activity

Technical advice on food processing, production of food proteins, edible oils and oil products, nutraceuticals, essential oils and spices. Laboratory planning. Support of insurance claims and litigation.

About

Levente L. Diosady is an Honour Graduate (1966) in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto . He is a registered Professional Engineer, and a designated Consulting Engineer in the Province of Ontario. After graduation he returned to the University of Toronto , where he obtained his M.A.Sc. (68) and Ph.D. (71) degrees in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry.
In 1972 Dr. Diosady joined the Cambrian Engineering Group as a process engineer, and in 1974 he was appointed Director, Research and Development for the Company. In this capacity he was responsible for establishing the company’s research and contract analytical laboratories. He initiated an ambitious program of process development in the areas of edible oil processing and environmental control. Under his direction the laboratory group had grown to 35 scientists and technicians by 1979, and performed some 10,000 contract analyses monthly in the food, feed and environmental control fields.
In addition to his research and development duties he participated in several engineering projects. In 1974 he reviewed the environmental  treatment systems of the mining and ore processing complex of Ecstall Mining in Timmins, and initiated a major water and air management program at the site. He was responsible for the design of a major pilot-plant for Environment Canada, and the process design for the POS Pilot Plant Corporation facilities in Saskatoon. He supervised the design and construction of several industrial waste water treatment systems.

In October 1979 Dr. Diosady was invited to the University of Toronto, Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry as Associate Professor, where he joined Dr. L.J.Rubin in establishing the first Canadian engineering program in food process engineering. Together they developed four undergraduate and three graduate courses, and initiated a multi-faceted research and development program. Dr. Diosady was promoted to Professor in 1985. In 1990 he has been appointed Adjunct Professor in the University of Guelph, School of Engineering.

Professor Diosady’s research interests include vegetable oil processing, edible-oil refining and catalytic hydrogenation, extrusion, protein extraction by membrane processes, advanced separation processes, micronutrient fortification of food and meat curing. He is the author of over 200 publications in refereed journals, and presented the results of the group’s research at some 250 international scientific meetings in Canada and abroad. His research has also resulted in 30 patents.

For the past 20 years he has been active in developing techniques for fortifying salt with iron, zinc, B vitamins and iodine for the prevention of micronutrient deficiency diseases, which adversely affect some 2 billion people. Tests in India with 3.4million school children  demonstrated that replacement of household salt with double-fortified salt in school lunches resulted in a 34% decrease in anemia in children after eight months. The technology has been demonstrated with 26 million consumers in Uttar Pradesh state in India, resulting in a 20% improvement in iron status. As of 2023 80 million consumers receive double fortified salt in three Indian states. Multiple fortified salt has been tested in India, Ethiopia and Tanzania, demonstrating a dramatic improvement in folic acid status.

He has been an active member  of several scientific societies, He is a fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada, the Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology, the American Oil Chemists’ Society, the Canadian Society of Chemical Engineering, Engineers Canada, the Canadian Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society of Canada. His work has been honoured by a number major awards, including the Queen’s Jubilee Award, the gold medal of Engineers Canada and the University of Toronto Alumni Network, the Nicolas Appert Lifetime Achievement Award and the Officers’ Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary. He is a member of the order of Ontario, and an Officer of the Order of Canada.

In addition to his academic activities, Dr. Diosady continues to consult in the areas of food processing, trace organic analysis, laboratory planning, and R & D management. He is the President of Food BioTek Corporation and a Director of Chemical Engineering Research Consultants Limited. He represented the academic sector on the Board of Directors of SGS-ICS, a firm specializing in certification of manufacturing operations to the ISO 9000 series of standards.
Dr. Diosady is active in the cultural activities of the Hungarian-Canadian community: he is a founding director and Secretary Treasurer of the Hungarian Research Institute of Canada, a research ancillary of the University of Toronto; a founding director and executive director of the Rákóczi Foundation, Vice President of a non-profit housing corporation and past president of the Hungarian-Canadian Engineers’ Association.

Complete CV available upon request.