Life, Physical, and Social Science · Holland code IRC

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.

Also called: Food and Drug Research Scientist, Food Scientist, Food Technologist, Research Chef, Corporate Food Scientist, Food Engineer, Food Safety Regulatory Manager, Formulator.

O*NET 19-1012.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $88,720; Middle half earn $68,810 to $116,650. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 82% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

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.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
Critical Thinking4.0 / 5
Active Learning4.0 / 5
Active Listening3.9 / 5
Writing3.9 / 5
Speaking3.9 / 5

Knowledge areas

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 ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic68
Investigative79
Artistic24
Social19
Enterprising26
Conventional49

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

sensory scientist · DE Wissenschaftler Sensorik/Wissenschaftlerin Sensorik · FR analyste sensoriel/analyste sensorielle
food biotechnologist · DE Lebensmittelbiotechnologe/Lebensmittelbiotechnologin · FR spécialiste en biotechnologie alimentaire
food production engineer · DE Lebensmittelproduktionstechniker/Lebensmittelproduktionstechnikerin · FR ingénieur de production agroalimentaire/ingénieure de production agroalimentaire
brewmaster · DE Braumeister/Braumeisterin · FR maître-brasseur/maître-brasseuse
cider master · DE Apfelweinmeister/Apfelweinmeisterin · FR expert en cidre/experte en cidre
food technologist · DE Lebensmitteltechnologe/Lebensmitteltechnologin · FR ingénieur en technologie alimentaire/ingénieure en technologie alimentaire

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Environmental health professionals (2483)14,900 employed
Chemical scientists (2111)25,100 employed
Quality assurance technicians (3115)36,100 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.79. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (19-1012).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

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