Food Scientists and Technologists: Salary, Job Description, How To Become One, and Quiz

Job description

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.

• Check raw ingredients for maturity or stability for processing, and finished products for safety, quality, and nutritional value.
• Inspect food processing areas to ensure compliance with government regulations and standards for sanitation, safety, quality, and waste management.
• Evaluate food processing and storage operations and assist in the development of quality assurance programs for such operations.
• Study methods to improve aspects of foods, such as chemical composition, flavor, color, texture, nutritional value, and convenience.

Salary

Food Scientists and Technologists with little to no experience tend to make between $39510 and $50660 while the more experienced ones can earn over $89150 per year.

One of the easiest ways to increase your salary as a Food Scientist and Technologist is to move to a higher paying state like DC. Right now, the highest paying states for Food Scientists and Technologists are DC, IL, MA, MD and VT.

However, a higher pay at DC doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the living expenses at DC might be twice as high than where you are currently at now.

Three other factors that can increase your salary as a Food Scientist and Technologist is the degree you hold, the industry you work in, and lastly the company you work for.

Requirements

We asked other Food Scientists and Technologists what degree they had when they got the job and most of them said they had a Bachelor’s Degree followed by a Master’s Degree.

Other than that, we also asked them what did they major in and here are the most popular majors that came up.

Pros and Cons

Here are some of the pros and cons of being a Food Scientist and Technologist.

What is the job like

72% of Food Scientists and Technologists said they were satisfied with their job and 52% said they feel like their job is making other people’s lives better.

Dr. Bryan Quoc Le

Saputo, a dairy and cheese manufacturer.

My name is Dr. Bryan Quoc Le, and I am a PhD-level food scientist, food industry consultant, and author of 150 Food Science Questions Answered. My Typical Day I spend the morning reviewing technical processes and data with the management team and looking for ways to improve the processes or deal with any technical issues … Read More

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Kirsten Kehlet

The Better Meat Co

Working as a product developer at The Better Meat Co. includes a large array of varying tasks. No two days are the same, meaning being adaptable to constant change is very important. My common daily activities include formulation and reformulation of recipes. Reformulation begins when a customer requests a product that would need to be … Read More

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Is this right for me

You can read more about these career personality types here.

People who are suitable for this job tends to like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally..

They also like work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They like working with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery.

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