Food Scientists and Technologists

What the job really is

Use chemistry, microbiology, engineering, and other sciences to study the principles underlying the processing and deterioration of foods; analyze food content to determine levels of vitamins, fat, sugar, and protein; discover new food sources; research ways to make processed foods safe, palatable, and healthful; and apply food science knowledge to determine best ways to process, package, preserve, store, and distribute food.

At a glance

• Sector: Life, Physical & Social Science
• O*NET-SOC code: 19-1012
• O*NET job zone: 4 — considerable preparation
• Work sample tasks on file: 12
• Tools and technologies listed: 12

What you actually do

Work sample tasks recorded for this occupation:

• Inspect food processing areas to ensure compliance with government regulations and standards for sanitation, safety, quality, and waste management.
• Check raw ingredients for maturity or stability for processing, and finished products for safety, quality, and nutritional value.
• Study methods to improve aspects of foods, such as chemical composition, flavor, color, texture, nutritional value, and convenience.
• Develop food standards and production specifications, safety and sanitary regulations, and waste management and water supply specifications.
• Stay up to date on new regulations and current events regarding food science by reviewing scientific literature.
• Study the structure and composition of food or the changes foods undergo in storage and processing.
• Confer with process engineers, plant operators, flavor experts, and packaging and marketing specialists to resolve problems in product development.
• Test new products for flavor, texture, color, nutritional content, and adherence to government and industry standards.
• Develop new food items for production, based on consumer feedback.
• Develop new or improved ways of preserving, processing, packaging, storing, and delivering foods, using knowledge of chemistry, microbiology, and other sciences.
• Evaluate food processing and storage operations and assist in the development of quality assurance programs for such operations.
• Demonstrate products to clients.

Tools and technology

HubSpot software, Hypertext markup language HTML, Marketo Marketing Automation, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, R, SAP software, Structured query language SQL

What employers expect you to already be comfortable with.

Where this job leads

Related occupations — the usual moves up and sideways:

• Food Science Technicians
• Animal Scientists
• Chemists
• Agricultural Technicians
• Microbiologists
• Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development Managers
• Soil and Plant Scientists
• Quality Control Analysts

Getting in

O*NET assigns this occupation job zone 4 (considerable preparation). The related occupations above are the realistic routes in and out.

Find openings

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Check this against the source

O*NET OnLine: Food Scientists and Technologists — the authoritative public-domain profile this page is derived from, including the full task list, reported skills and the wage estimates for your region.

Derived and rewritten from the public-domain O*NET database (U.S. Department of Labor / Employment and Training Administration). Figures are observations, not promises — always confirm salary, licensing and visa requirements with the employer and the relevant authority.