Izy Hossack

Izy Hossack

Izy Hossack is a second year BSc Food Science and Nutrition student and you may have already heard of her as The Times Magazine recently named Izy as one of the world's most followed foodies.

With a hit blog topwithcinnamon.com, over 185,000 followers on Instagram, awards including YBF 2016 and the release of her first cookbook under her belt Izy is on the road to success. She has fans including Jamie Oliver who said "Izy is absolutely nailing it with awesome breads and cakes, beautiful photography AND loads of recipes that are super exciting even if you follow a restricted diet!" and big worldwide companies Sainsbury's, Ikea, Cuisinart, Lidl and Waitrose, who are all wanting a piece of the action with Izy's work.

Here, we find out a bit more about Izy's journey so far, including her current university journey:

Izy started off initially wanting to study Biomedical Sciences at university. It was when she was attending open days and visiting institutions that she realised the modules she was most drawn to were about nutrition, so she decided it made sense to study this for a degree instead.

From a foodie family, ever since Izy was small she has been cooking. Her mum is an American-Italian, her dad has an allotment and they are both passionate foodies. When Izy was 10 she began baking but when she hit 13, she began to read food blogs which is where her interest in experimental baking began. Izy says "my family is quite creative as well as being really into food, my Dad's an architect and my Mum's really into photography, so food and creativity has always been a part of my life."

It was through attending an open day that ultimately decided for Izy that the University of Leeds was for her.

"I looked at other universities, such as Surrey and Nottingham, but the campus at the University of Leeds is so beautiful and I love how it is so near to the city centre. I could see that the teaching here was of a high quality, which was really important to me, especially if I want to be giving out nutritional advice to others."

Izy has no regrets about picking to come to the University of Leeds, and the city of Leeds suits her foodie lifestyle perfectly:

"There's so many good shops and supermarkets to buy ingredients from in Leeds, for example the Kirkgate market near the Corn Exchange is fantastic and there's loads of Asian supermarkets or Middle Eastern supermarkets. It's so easy to walk to all of these places from the university campus as well, that it's ideal for me. I don't know anybody who hasn't loved their time at Leeds, and I'd recommend it to everyone who was interested in Food Science and Nutrition."
When discussing the BSc Food Science and Nutrition course, Izy states how her course has helped to shape her career. "The modules I'm studying on my course have really helped increased my scientific knowledge. I've got access to so many text books, resources and facilities that help me to enhance my learning and succeed with my university work. Last year, I had to create a diet diary based on myself, then analyse the diary and make recommendations as if I was a nutritionist. This project really helped me when I've been developing my recipes and creating my cookbook.

I'm currently doing my literature review on Human Microbiome, which fascinates me and it's enhancing my analytical skills too."

When Izy's not studying, she's working on her hugely successful blog, developing recipes and recently she has just finished writing her second cookbook, The Savvy Cook, which is due to be released next Summer.

Currently, her future plans are to move back to London and continue with the work she is currently doing. She told us that "it's hard to predict what will happen in the digital world, especially social media, so for now I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing and see what happens. I'm hoping to secure a job one day doing food styling and food photography and I want to keep developing my recipes and sharing them with the world via my blog."