In her food writing, Marian Burros exposed fraud and crafted hit recipes

In 1983, New York Times journalist Marian Burros stepped into the role of restaurant critic, a sought-after job that made her one of the nation’s highest-profile food writers.

But Ms. Burros, who spent her half-century journalism career focused on skeptical reporting about food nutrition and safety — often questioning government bureaucrats and food-company executives, as well as helping thrifty home cooks — hated the brief assignment, according to her friend Clark Wolf, a food and restaurant consultant.