Dr Elsie Widdowson FRS[1] (1906 - 14 June 2000, Cambridge, England), was a British scientist responsible for overseeing the government mandated addition of vitamins to food and war-time rationing in Britain during World War II.
She graduated with a PhD in chemistry from Imperial College, London in 1928; her thesis was on the carbohydrate content of apples. Widdowson and her scientific partner, Robert McCance, headed the first mandated addition of vitamins and mineral to food. Their work began in the early 1940s, when calcium was added to bread.[2] The two were also responsible for formulating the war-time rationing of Britain during World War II.[2]
She coauthored The Chemical Composition of Foods in 1940 with Professor McCance. Their work became known the basis for modern nutritional thinking.
She was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 1993, which is awarded for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry, or religion.[3] She was the sister of Eva Crane, who was trained as a nuclear physicist but became a world renowned authority on bees.