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QUBProf Chris Elliott — no licensed photograph is available, so the academic plate is shown instead.

Academic

Prof Chris Elliott

Honorary Professor of Food Safety; Founder of the Institute for Global Food Security, Queen's University Belfast (Institute for Global Food Security)

Queen's University Belfast (Institute for Global Food Security) is based in Belfast South and Mid Down — the organisation’s base, not a personal address.

Press citations

2

Topic

1

Cancer

Last quoted

Aug 2026

Prof Chris Elliott: key facts

Kind of voice
Academic
Role
Honorary Professor of Food Safety; Founder of the Institute for Global Food Security
Organisation
Queen's University Belfast (Institute for Global Food Security)
Organisation based in
Belfast South and Mid Down
Quoted on
Cancer
Tracked press citations
2
Most recently quoted
27 Aug 2026

Who Prof Chris Elliott is

Professor Chris Elliott OBE (PhD, FRSC, FRSB, MRIA) is the founder of the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen's University Belfast, where he now holds an Honorary Professorship, and is also Professor of Food Security at Thammasat University in Thailand. He has published over 600 peer-reviewed articles on the detection and control of agricultural, food and environmental contaminants, cited more than 24,000 times. He led the UK Government's independent review of food supply networks following the 2013 horsemeat scandal, whose final report in 2014 recommended, among other measures, the creation of what became the National Food Crime Unit. He was awarded an OBE in 2017 for services to the agri-food supply chain and received the Royal Society of Chemistry Theophilus Redwood Prize the same year. Elliott is a frequent media commentator on food fraud, food safety threats, and the resilience of UK food supply chains.

“A decade on from the WHO report, the UK government has done virtually nothing to reduce exposure to nitrites, the curing agents that make these products pink and long-lasting but also create nitrosamines, compounds known to trigger cancer. Every year of delay means more preventable cancers, more families affected and greater strain on the NHS.”

References for this biography

  1. 1.Professor Chris Elliott OBE – Find an Expert, Queen's University Belfast — Role title, organisation, horsemeat review, OBE, media commentary role, press contact email
  2. 2.Professor Chris Elliott | Contributor | New Food Magazine — Current Honorary Professor status at QUB, Thammasat University role, 600+ publications, UN advisory roles, 2024 honorary doctorate, RSC Theophilus Redwood Prize, Royal Irish Academy fellowship
  3. 3.Queen's Professor appointed first Honorary President of The Society of Food Hygiene and Technology – QUB News — SOFHT Honorary Presidency (2023), Dorothy Cullinane Award, Food Fortress concept
  4. 4.Institute for Global Food Security – Queen's University Belfast Research Portal — IGFS address and postcode (19 Chlorine Gardens, BT9 5DL, Belfast)
  5. 5.Agilent Presents Thought Leader Award to Professor Chris Elliott – BioSpace — Agilent Thought Leader Award; Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry and Royal Society of Biology
  6. 6.UK 'walking into major food safety storm': Chris Elliott – The Grocer — Recent press commentary on food safety threats, illegal imports, Brexit impact on food intelligence sharing (March 2025)
  7. 7.Professor Elliott admitted to Royal Irish Academy – QUB — Royal Irish Academy membership (2020), Food Fortress concept attribution

Notable achievements

  • Led the UK Government's independent Elliott Review into the integrity and assurance of food supply networks following the 2013 horsemeat scandal, with recommendations published in 2014 that led to the creation of the National Food Crime Unit. Source ↗
  • Awarded an OBE in 2017 for services to the agri-food supply chain. Source ↗
  • Elected to the Royal Irish Academy in 2020 in recognition of outstanding academic achievements. Source ↗
  • Appointed first Honorary President of the Society of Food Hygiene and Technology (SOFHT) in 2023, and awarded its Dorothy Cullinane Award for special contribution to food safety. Source ↗
  • Awarded an honorary Doctorate from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna in 2024. Source ↗
  • Received the Agilent Thought Leader Award in recognition of contributions to food authenticity and novel approaches to food fraud detection. Source ↗

What Prof Chris Elliott has said

Where Prof Chris Elliott has been quoted

  1. Scientists demand cancer warnings on bacon and ham sold in UKtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
  2. Supermarkets hit by falling demand for nitrite-cured bacon due to cancer fearstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Related media coverage

Recent UK press coverage of their topics — not necessarily citing them directly.

Contact & links

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.

Professors, researchers and think-tank analysts quoted on the strength of their research rather than a clinical role. Citations are counted by an automated scan of UK press coverage and may be incomplete. Roles, biographies and contact details are researched and human-reviewed before they appear here; anything not yet reviewed is simply absent rather than shown unverified. This profile was last updated on 5 Oct 2026. See the methodology for how this page is built, or email contact@bridgeheadcommunications.com to correct anything on it.