Food Scientists & 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.

On the job, you would:

• 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.
• Develop new or improved ways of preserving, processing, packaging, storing, and delivering foods, using knowledge of chemistry, microbiology, and other sciences.

Education

• bachelor's degree
• doctoral degree

Manufactured or Agricultural Goods

• food production
• manufacture and distribution of products

Math and Science

• biology
• chemistry

Arts and Humanities

• English language

Engineering and Technology

• product and service development

Basic Skills

• listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
• reading work related information

Problem Solving

• noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

People and Technology Systems

• thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one
• figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it

Investigative

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.

• Analytical Thinking
• Integrity
• Attention to Detail
• Cooperation
• Achievement/Effort
• Dependability

Verbal

• listen and understand what people say
• read and understand what is written

Ideas and Logic

• notice when problems happen
• make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information

Math

• add, subtract, multiply, or divide
• choose the right type of math to solve a problem

Visual Understanding

• see hidden patterns