Lloyd Augustus Hall

Lloyd August Hall

Born: June 20, 1894
Died: January 2, 1971
Birthplace: Elgin, Illinois
Occupation: Chemist and Inventor

Lloyd August Hall received his Bachelor of Science from Northwestern University in 1914, a Master of Science from Northwestern in 1916, and a Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) from Virginia State College in 1944. Dr. Hall has served as junior and senior Sanitary Chemist of the Department of Health laboratories for the city of Chicago, Illinois from 1915 to 1919. He also served as chief chemist for John Morrel and Company of Ottuma, Illinois (1919-1921). He was President of the Chemical Products Corporation, Chicago from 1921 to 1924. Dr. Hall served as Consultant for Griffith’s Laboratories from 1925 to 1929, later as Technical Director and Chief Chemist of Griffith’s Laboratories in Chicago, Illinois from 1929 to 1946. From 1946 to 1959 Lloyd hall served as Technical Director. 

Lloyd Hall served as an assistant chief inspector of high explosives and research for United States government in World War I. Lloyd Hall served as a consultant in the subsistence development and research laboratories of the Quartermaster Corps of the United States Army during World War II. Dr. Hall is the holder of over 100 patents in the United States, Britain, and Canada.

After his retirement, he became a consultant to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Lloyd Hall is responsible for the meat curing products, seasonings, emulsions, bakery products, antioxidants, protein hydrolysates, and many other products that keep our food fresh and flavorable. Many of today’s food preservative chemicals were pioneered by Dr. Hall’s research. Prior to his discoveries, food preservatives were a matter of chances; the most common preservative was a mixture of sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite. Preservation could be unreliable, where too much sodium nitrite turned foods bitter and unpalatable but too little would not protect against spoilage. Lloyd Hall developed a successful combination of complex chemical salt which has proved to be t he most satisfactory curing salt marketed in this country. He has developed new processes for the sterilization of spices, cereals, and other food materials, and pharmaceuticals which are widely used today. (Carwell)