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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 salary

$85,310

Typical range

$50k – $142k

Job outlook

+7% (faster than average)

AI exposure

Plan a path to Food Scientists and Technologists

Qualification costsStack incomeBest cities/statesSchool ROIJob-posting fitTailored resume

Education

Typical entry: Bachelor's degree

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Typical progression

  1. Food Scientists and Technologists Intern

    Internship

    $36,000

    ~4 mos to advance

  2. Junior Food Scientists and Technologists

    Entry / Junior

    $49,580

    ~2 yrs to advance

  3. Food Scientists and Technologists

    Established

    $85,310

    ~3 yrs to advance

  4. Senior Food Scientists and Technologists

    Senior

    $113,585

Internships are a common on-ramp here — they speed up landing that first role and improve your odds, which is why the Safe and High-ceiling plans build one in.

Key skills

A typical 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.

Fields of study

Any field

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Reputation-based selection; stats shown are outcome data per school.