Food Scientists and Technologists
Agriculture, Food and Natural ResourcesO*NET 19-1012.00United States
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 annual earnings
- $87,059
- Projected change
- +8.6%
- Typical education
- Bachelor's degree
- Employment
- 14.96K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
81.8% of the workforce
Growing to 16.24K by 2035
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These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What food scientists and technologists do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- 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.
- Confer with process engineers, plant operators, flavor experts, and packaging and marketing specialists to resolve problems in product development.
- Study the structure and composition of food or the changes foods undergo in storage and processing.
- Stay up to date on new regulations and current events regarding food science by reviewing scientific literature.
- 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.
- Seek substitutes for harmful or undesirable additives, such as nitrites.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $50,823
- 25th percentile
- $66,376
- 50th percentile
- $87,059
- 75th percentile
- $115,566
- 90th percentile
- $145,237
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $87,059 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+8.6%faster than average
202514,955 jobs
2035 projected16,243 jobs
1,288 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Bachelor's degree
- 81.8%
- Certificate
- 9.1%
- Associate degree
- 4.6%
- Master's or Professional degree
- 4.6%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Food Scientists416 postings
- 02Food Technologists147 postings
- 03Applications Scientists116 postings
- 04Product Development Scientists95 postings
- 05Scientists90 postings
- 06Flavorists84 postings
- 07Associate Scientists36 postings
- 08Research and Development Interns36 postings
- 09Principal Scientists34 postings
- 10Research and Development Technicians29 postings
- 11Sensory Scientists26 postings
- 12Summer Interns26 postings
- 13Technologists25 postings
- 14Retail Division Managers24 postings
- 15Agricultural Specialists23 postings
- 16Research and Development Food Scientists22 postings
- 17Product Development Specialists21 postings
- 18Agricultural Managers20 postings
- 19Application Technologists20 postings
- 20Regulatory Scientists20 postings
Top employers
- 01Actalent123 postings
- 02Nutrien54 postings
- 03Sunrise Systems32 postings
- 04Kerry Group31 postings
- 05The Coca-Cola Company29 postings
- 06ADM27 postings
- 07Affinity Human Venture26 postings
- 08Pgp-USA26 postings
- 09International Flavors & Fragrances25 postings
- 10Compunnel Software Group24 postings
- 11DSM-Firmenich23 postings
- 12Insight Global22 postings
- 13Medix™20 postings
- 14Pennsylvania State University19 postings
- 15Bayer18 postings
- 16Nestlé18 postings
- 17Cornell University17 postings
- 18PepsiCo17 postings
- 19University of Minnesota17 postings
- 20Activ8 Recruitment & Solutions16 postings
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