Alina S. Szczesniak

Alina Surmacka Szczesniak is a Polish-born, American food scientist best known for her contributions to food texture.

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Education and career

Szczesniak earned her graduate degree in food technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then worked for General Foods in the field of food chemistry, focusing on texture studies. She worked at General Foods from 1952 until her 1986 retirement, where she retired as a principal scientist.

In 1985, she became the first woman to receive the Nicholas Appert Award, the highest honor bestowed upon its members by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT). It commended her pioneering work on food texture that led to its recognition as an important quality attribute affecting consumer acceptance and to its organization as a subdiscipline of food science. Szczesniak was also named and IFT Fellow in 1981. As of 2007, she is the only woman to ever win the Appert Award.

Selected work

• Szczesniak, A.S., H. Sherman, and R.S. Harris. "The Percutaneous Absorption of Water." Science. 16 March 1951: 293-294.

References

• "People News: Alina S. Szczesniak." Food Technology. September 2002: p. 16.