Charles Olin Ball (1893–1970) was an American

food scientist Food science is the basic science and applied science of food; its scope starts at overlap with agricultural science and nutritional science and leads through the scientific aspects of food safety and food processing, informing the developm ...

and inventor who was involved in the

thermal death time Thermal death time is how long it takes to kill a specific bacterium at a specific temperature. It was originally developed for food canning and has found applications in cosmetics, producing salmonella-free feeds for animals (e.g. poultry) and phar ...

studies in the food

canning Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container ( jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, althoug ...

industry during the early 1920s. This research was used as standard by the United States

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...

for calculating thermal processes in canning. He was also a charter member of the

Institute of Food Technologists The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) is an international, non-profit scientific society of professionals engaged in food science, food technology, and related areas in academia, government and industry. It has more than 17,000 members from ...

in 1939 and inducted among the first class of its fellows in 1970 for his work in academia and industry.

Biography

A native of Abilene, Kansas, Ball earned his BS in mathematics before going to graduate school at

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , presi ...

from 1919 to 1922. While at George Washington University, he worked for the

National Canners Association The Food Products Association (formerly the National Food Processors Association or NFPA) was the principal U.S. scientific and technical trade association representing the food processing industry until 2007. FPA was headquartered in Washington, ...

by researching the sterilization of

canned foods Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although un ...

. Ball's formula method of

became the standard of the United States

for calculating thermal processes. After earning his PhD from George Washington University in 1922, Ball worked with the

American Can Company The American Can Company was a manufacturer of tin cans. It was a member of the Tin Can Trust, that controlled a "large percentage of business in the United States in tin cans, containers, and packages of tin." American Can Company ranked 97th amon ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

and New York where he earned 29 patents. He worked at

Owens-Illinois Glass Company O-I Glass, Inc. is an American company that specializes in container glass products. It is one of the world's leading manufacturers of packaging products, holding the position of largest manufacturer of glass containers in North America, South ...

from 1944 to 1946 before going to

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and wa ...

as a professor and later chair of the

food science Food science is the basic science and applied science of food; its scope starts at overlap with agricultural science and nutritional science and leads through the scientific aspects of food safety and food processing, informing the developme ...

department during 1949–1963.

Institute of Food Technologists involvement

Ball was a charter member of Institute of Food Technologists when it was founded in 1939, and its president in 1963–64. He won the

Nicholas Appert Award The Nicolas Appert Award is awarded by the Chicago Section of the Institute of Food Technologists for preeminence in and contributions to the field of food technology. The award has been given annually since 1942 and is named after Nicolas Apper ...

in 1947, and was among the first class of 27 fellows inducted in 1970. Ball was the first editor-in-chief of ''

Food Technology Food technology is a branch of food science that deals with the production, preservation, quality control and research and development of the food products. Early scientific research into food technology concentrated on food preservation. Ni ...

'' from 1947 to 1950.

Death and legacy

Ball died in 1970. Rutgers' food science department established an undergraduate scholarship in his honor for those students majoring in food science who excel in food engineering courses.

Selected work

*Ball, C.O. and F.C.W. Olson (1957). ''Sterilization in Food Technology. 1st Edition.'' New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.

References

*"C. Olin Ball." ''Food Engineering.'' September 2003. p. 66. *Downing, D.L. (1996). ''A Complete Course In Canning – Book II: Microbiology, Packaging, HACCP & Ingredients, 13th Edition.'' Timonium, MD: CTI Publications, Inc. pp. 62–3, 71–5, 93–6. *Merlmelstein, N.H. and F.R. Katz. "Advancing Food Science and Technology for Fifty Years." ''Food Technology''. January 1997. pp. 8–11. *Powers, J.J. (2000). "The Food Industry Contribution: Preeminence in Science and in Application." ''A Century of Food Science.'' Institute of Food Technologists: Chicago. pp. 17–18. *Stier, R.F. (2004). "C. Olin Ball." ''Pioneers in Food Science, Volume 2.'' J.J. Powers, Ed. Trumball, CT: Food & Nutrition Press. pp. 79–112.

External links

List of IFT Award winnersList of IFT Fellows
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, C. Olin 1893 births 1970 deaths People from Abilene, Kansas George Washington University alumni American food scientists 20th-century American mathematicians American microbiologists Canned food Fellows of the Institute of Food Technologists Scientists from Chicago People from New Jersey Scientists from New York (state) People from Washington, D.C. Rutgers University faculty Mathematicians from Illinois