An official State of Ohio site. Here’s how you know
Contact

Welcome,
New User

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.

View All

    Work Activities

    Work Activities

    • Develop new or improved ways of preserving, processing, packaging, storing, and delivering foods, using knowledge of chemistry, microbiology, and other sciences.
    • Develop new food items for production, based on consumer feedback.
    • Seek substitutes for harmful or undesirable additives, such as nitrites.
    • 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.
    • Stay up to date on new regulations and current events regarding food science by reviewing scientific literature.
    • 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.
    • Evaluate food processing and storage operations and assist in the development of quality assurance programs for such operations.
    • Study the structure and composition of food or the changes foods undergo in storage and processing.
    • Develop food standards and production specifications, safety and sanitary regulations, and waste management and water supply specifications.
    • Demonstrate products to clients.

    Skills

    • Operation and Control

      Using equipment or systems.

    • Judgment and Decision Making

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.

    • Systems Analysis

      Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.

    • Systems Evaluation

      Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

    • Repairing

      Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.

    • Equipment Selection

      Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.

    • Instructing

      Teaching people how to do something.

    • Service Orientation

      Looking for ways to help people.

    • Complex Problem Solving

      Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

    • Operations Analysis

      Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.

    • Coordination

      Changing what is done based on other people's actions.

    • Time Management

      Managing your time and the time of other people.

    • Social Perceptiveness

      Understanding people's reactions.

    • Active Listening

      Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

    • Active Learning

      Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

    • Writing

      Writing things for co-workers or customers.

    • Mathematics

      Using math to solve problems.

    • Monitoring

      Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

    • Learning Strategies

      Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.

    • Technology Design

      Making equipment and technology useful for customers.

    • Troubleshooting

      Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.

    • Quality Control Analysis

      Testing how well a product or service works.

    • Equipment Maintenance

      Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

    • Management of Personnel Resources

      Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.

    • Negotiation

      Bringing people together to solve differences.

    • Management of Financial Resources

      Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.

    • Management of Material Resources

      Managing equipment and materials.

    • Persuasion

      Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

    • Programming

      Writing computer programs.

    • Operations Monitoring

      Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.

    • Installation

      Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.

    • Science

      Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

    • Critical Thinking

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

    • Speaking

      Talking to others.

    • Reading Comprehension

      Reading work-related information.

    WorkKeys®

    Applied Math
    5
    Workplace Documents
    4
    Graphic Literacy
    4

    Abilities

    • Rate Control

      Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.

    • Time Sharing

      Doing two or more things at the same time.

    • Gross Body Equilibrium

      Keeping your balance or staying upright.

    • Perceptual Speed

      Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

    • Extent Flexibility

      Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Speech Recognition

      Recognizing spoken words.

    • Manual Dexterity

      Holding or moving items with your hands.

    • Explosive Strength

      Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.

    • Written Expression

      Communicating by writing.

    • Depth Perception

      Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.

    • Originality

      Creating new and original ideas.

    • Arm-Hand Steadiness

      Keeping your arm or hand steady.

    • Category Flexibility

      Grouping things in different ways.

    • Deductive Reasoning

      Using rules to solve problems.

    • Dynamic Flexibility

      Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Number Facility

      Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

    • Flexibility of Closure

      Seeing hidden patterns.

    • Reaction Time

      Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.

    • Multilimb Coordination

      Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.

    • Response Orientation

      Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.

    • Hearing Sensitivity

      Telling the difference between sounds.

    • Peripheral Vision

      Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.

    • Selective Attention

      Paying attention to something without being distracted.

    • Written Comprehension

      Reading and understanding what is written.

    • Gross Body Coordination

      Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.

    • Visual Color Discrimination

      Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.

    • Mathematical Reasoning

      Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.

    • Wrist-Finger Speed

      Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.

    • Spatial Orientation

      Knowing where things are around you.

    • Finger Dexterity

      Putting together small parts with your fingers.

    • Auditory Attention

      Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.

    • Stamina

      Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.

    • Control Precision

      Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.

    • Far Vision

      Seeing details that are far away.

    • Oral Comprehension

      Listening and understanding what people say.

    • Speech Clarity

      Speaking clearly.

    • Speed of Closure

      Quickly knowing what you are looking at.

    • Inductive Reasoning

      Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.

    • Information Ordering

      Ordering or arranging things.

    • Trunk Strength

      Using your lower back and stomach.

    • Glare Sensitivity

      Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.

    • Near Vision

      Seeing details up close.

    • Static Strength

      Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.

    • Problem Sensitivity

      Noticing when problems happen.

    • Visualization

      Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

    • Sound Localization

      Noticing the direction that a sound came from.

    • Dynamic Strength

      Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

    • Night Vision

      Seeing at night or under low light.

    • Speed of Limb Movement

      Quickly moving your arms and legs.

    • Oral Expression

      Communicating by speaking.

    • Fluency of Ideas

      Coming up with lots of ideas.

    • Memorization

      Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.

    Knowledge

    • Fine Arts

      Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

    • Physics

      Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.

    • Education and Training

      Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

    • Therapy and Counseling

      Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

    • Administration and Management

      Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

    • Law and Government

      Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

    • Medicine and Dentistry

      Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

    • Economics and Accounting

      Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

    • Foreign Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

    • Chemistry

      Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

    • Customer and Personal Service

      Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

    • Production and Processing

      Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

    • Mechanical

      Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

    • Sales and Marketing

      Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

    • Administrative

      Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

    • Biology

      Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

    • Sociology and Anthropology

      Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    • Geography

      Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

    • Philosophy and Theology

      Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.

    • Computers and Electronics

      Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    • Food Production

      Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

    • History and Archeology

      Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

    • Psychology

      Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

    • Building and Construction

      Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.

    • Mathematics

      Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

    • Engineering and Technology

      Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.

    • Design

      Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

    • Personnel and Human Resources

      Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

    • Transportation

      Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

    • English Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

    • Communications and Media

      Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

    • Telecommunications

      Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

    • Public Safety and Security

      Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

    Career Video

    Additional videos and more information available on CareerOneStop

    Pay

    • Ohio Annual Salary 56070/yr
    • Typical Salary
    • Ohio Hourly Wage 26.96/hr
    • Typical Hourly Wage

    Ohio Employment Trends

    • Currently Employed 360
    • Yearly Projected Openings 30

    Typical Education

    Personality

    Investigative: People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.They do well at jobs that need:
    • Analytical Thinking
    • Integrity
    • Attention to Detail
    • Cooperation
    • Achievement/Effort
    • Dependability

    Tools

    • Air samplers or collectors
    • Amino acid analyzers
    • Anaerobic chamber
    • Analytical balances
    • Atomic absorption AA spectrometers
    • Autosamplers
    • Bench refractometers or polarimeters
    • Blanching machinery
    • Blast freezers
    • Calorimeters
    • Color sensors
    • Colorimeters
    • Commercial use deep fryers
    • Commercial use food choppers or cubers or dicers
    • Commercial use food grinders
    • Commercial use food slicers
    • Commercial use griddles
    • Commercial use grills
    • Commercial use microwave ovens
    • Commercial use mixers
    • Commercial use ranges
    • Commercial use steamers
    • Conductivity meters
    • Cooking machinery
    • Crushing machinery
    • Cutting machinery
    • Darkfield microscopes
    • Dehydrating machinery
    • Dehydrators
    • Desktop computers
    • Dry wall single chamber carbon dioxide incubators
    • Electronic counters
    • Electrophoresis system accessories
    • Extracting equipment for laboratories
    • Fat extractors
    • Filling machinery
    • Flask or retort units
    • Fluorescent microscopes
    • Forced air or mechanical convection general purpose incubators
    • Freeze dryers or lyopholizers
    • Gas chromatographs
    • Gel documentation systems
    • High pressure liquid chromatograph chromatography
    • Homogenizers
    • Ice cream machines
    • Infrared spectrometers
    • Ion chromatographs
    • Juicing machinery
    • Kjeldahl nitrogen determination apparatus
    • Laboratory balances
    • Laboratory blenders or emulsifiers
    • Laboratory box furnaces
    • Laboratory diluters
    • Laboratory heat exchange condensers
    • Laboratory mechanical convection ovens
    • Laboratory membrane filters
    • Laboratory mills
    • Lasers
    • Light scattering equipment
    • Manual or electronic hematology differential cell counters
    • Mass spectrometers
    • Melting point recorders
    • Microbiological aircontrol equipment
    • Microbiology analyzers
    • Microcentrifuges
    • Microplate readers
    • Nephelometers
    • Nitrogen or nitrate or nitrite analyzer
    • Notebook computers
    • Orbital shaking water baths
    • Oscilloscopes
    • Oxygen gas analyzers
    • Packaging vacuum
    • Personal computers
    • Refrigerated benchtop centrifuges
    • Rheometers
    • Roasting machinery
    • Scanning electron microscopes
    • Solution strength estimation apparatus
    • Spectrofluorimeters or fluorimeters
    • Spectrometers
    • Standard fermentation units
    • Steam autoclaves or sterilizers
    • Sterilization cabinets
    • Stomachers
    • Strain gauges
    • Sugar analyzers
    • Temperature cycling chambers or thermal cyclers
    • Thermal differential analyzers
    • Thermo gravimetry analyzers
    • Tissue culture incubators
    • Vacuum or rotary evaporators
    • Viscosimeters
    • Water analysis systems
    • Water baths
    • X ray diffraction equipment
    • pH meters

    Technology

    • Analytical or scientific software
    • Business intelligence and data analysis software
    • Customer relationship management CRM software
    • Data base user interface and query software
    • Electronic mail software
    • Enterprise resource planning ERP software
    • Object or component oriented development software
    • Office suite software
    • Presentation software
    • Sales and marketing software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Web platform development software
    • Word processing software

    Tags

    • InDemand occupations are considered a priority by the state of Ohio.
    Need help on researching occupations and careers? Download the Guide to Researching Occupations (PDF).

    Need help on how to research education and training programs? Download the Guide to Higher Education (PDF).

    Budget Calculator

    Answer a few questions to determine your target salary. Use this target salary to help choose the right occupation for you.

    Lifestyle Calculator

    Answer a few questions to determine your target salary. Use this target salary to help choose the right occupation for you.

    Workforce Supply Tool

    Workforce Supply Tool

    The Workforce Supply Tool provides statistics for the occupations in highest demand throughout Ohio.

    You can view statewide statistics as well as more region specific information.

    Visit Site
    Powered By: