John Taylor is a food scientist at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.  His specialization is in grain science and technology, focusing on the grains and grain-based foods of Africa.  He also has strong interest in grains for nutrition, especially in food-based approaches to prevent micronutrient (vitamin and mineral) malnutrition, the Hidden Hunger.

John’s life mission is to undertake research, development and implementation work into the nutritional quality and processing of African grains with the aim of improving food security and promoting economic development in sub-Saharan Africa.  He is author and co-author of over 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers and some 50 book chapters on these topics.  He has also been senior editor of two technical handbooks, one on gluten-free ancient grains as sustainable, nutritious, and health-promoting foods and the other on the chemistry, technology and nutritional attributes of sorghum and millets.  

An equally important aspect of this mission is to educate and train food scientists, the food industry and people in the community in sub-Saharan Africa. To this end, he has been supervisor and co-supervisor of more than 100 doctoral and master graduates and he has presented training courses on the processing of grains and other foods across the region. Additionally, he has worked with numerous food processing companies in the region, ranging from multinationals to small- and micro-enterprises and consulted to several international organizations.

John is a Past-president and an Honorary president of the International Association for Cereal Science and Technology (ICC), and a Fellow of ICC, the Cereals and Grains Association (CGA) and the International Academy of Food Science and Technology, and a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa.  He is recipient of several awards, most recently the CGA’s T.B. Osborne Medal and the ICC’s Clyde Bailey Medal.