Science
Food scientists and technologists
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.
Median pay
$88,720
Growth to 2035
+6%
faster than average
Openings a year
1,000
Time to qualify*
Minimal
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Food scientists and technologists
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- On-the-job training
- None
- Prior experience
- None
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time sitting
Time standing
Outdoors in all weather
Hazardous conditions
Food scientists and technologists: 59% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core tasks
- 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.
Also called: Corporate Food Scientist · Food and Drug Research Scientist · Food Engineer · Food Safety Regulatory Manager · Food Scientist · Food Technologist · Formulator · Product Development Scientist
Outlook and AI
Food scientists and technologists held 14,100 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 14,900 by 2035 (+6%, faster than average; all jobs: +3.5%).
Compare with
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- Food scientists and technologists vs. Agricultural technician
- Food scientists and technologists vs. Microbiologist
- Food scientists and technologists vs. Architectural and engineering managers
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- Food scientists and technologists vs. Life, physical, and social science technicians, all other
- Food scientists and technologists vs. Agricultural engineer
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