Life, Physical & Social Science
Food Scientists and Technologists
Also called: Corporate Food Scientist, Food and Drug Research Scientist, Food Engineer, Food Safety Regulatory Manager
US median pay
$88,720
per year, 2025
Job growth 2025–35
+6.2%
faster than average
Openings a year (US)
1,000
14,100 employed
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Preparation 4/5 · Considerable preparation
What this job 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.
What they do day to day
- 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.
Skills and knowledge that matter most
Skills
- Judgment and Decision Making3.9/5
- Complex Problem Solving3.9/5
- Systems Evaluation3.6/5
- Systems Analysis3.6/5
- Quality Control Analysis3.4/5
- Social Perceptiveness3.2/5
- Time Management3.1/5
- Persuasion3.1/5
Knowledge
- Production and Processing4.4/5
- Food Production4.1/5
- Chemistry4.0/5
- English Language4.0/5
- Mathematics3.7/5
- Engineering and Technology3.7/5
Importance rated by people working in the job (1 = not important, 5 = extremely important).
Education and preparation
Preparation level 4 of 5 — Considerable preparation. Usually a bachelor's degree and several years of related experience.
Typical entry education (BLS): Bachelor's degree.
Highest education of people in this job:
- Bachelor's degree82%
Who this job suits
Mostly Investigative
Ideas, research and solving problems
Realistic
Hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
Conventional
Organising data, details and procedures
Based on the Holland (RIASEC) interest profile for this occupation.