Lizzie Vann

Lizzie Vann MBE is the founder of Organix, an organic children's food company, based in Christchurch, Dorset.

Vann studied biology at the University of Lancaster, and then worked as an investment analyst in the City of London. Ongoing health problems, and the belief that more and more parents shared her concern regarding the safety of children's food, led her to set up Organix in 1992, offering parents a healthier alternative to mass-produced children's food.

Vann has campaigned for improvements to children's food, including calling on the British Government to regulate more heavily the issue of pesticide residues in food consumed by children, and ban all synthetic dyes and flavour-enhancing additives in children's food.

She was also one of three founding members of the Soil Association's Food For Life programme, and from 2007 to 2009 was the chairman of the Soil Association's Organic Trade Group.

Choice, the Australian consumer organisation has criticised Organix products, describing them as "highly processed...(with) no substance" and likening them to Froot Loops. The group stated that the "ingredients list largely consists of flour, grape juice concentrate, two types of oil (including palm oil) and strawberry powder. The pack claims the biscuits contain 'nothing unnecessary', but you could equally argue they contain nothing necessary"

Vann sold the company to the Hero group in 2008 and has subsequently invested the proceeds in projects that promote child health and food quality, and renewable energy developments.

Vann has won a European Woman of Achievement Award, the Caroline Walker Award for campaigning work in the food industry, the Organic Trophy from the Soil Association in 2002, and an MBE for Services to Children's Food.

She lives in New York, United States, where she is involved with renewable energy developments, and supports campaigns in both the UK and U.S. to improve understanding and promotion of food quality for children.

• Lizzie Vann Interview on Rundgren Radio 2020