Food Scientists and Technologists
In short: today's best AI models could do about 17% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 79% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 14% of the time, stays with people.
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.
13,060 people do this job in the US. $88,720 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on7 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet27 h
- Stays with people6 h
Food Scientists and Technologists, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 7 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 27 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 6 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Study methods to improve aspects of foods, such as chemical composition, flavor, color, texture, nutritional value, and convenience (about 2 h); Study the structure and composition of food or the changes foods undergo in storage and processing (about 2 h); Develop food standards and production specifications, safety and sanitary regulations, and waste management and water supply specifications (about 1 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 86%
- 2%
- 12%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 1%. Today's estimate: 17%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 13 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.076% to 0.086% (released February and March 2025); 0.12% to 0.05% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.076% | 214 of 708 | 6 of 13 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.086% | 179 of 703 | 6 of 13 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.12% | 137 of 655 | 6 of 13 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.052% | 230 of 672 | 6 of 13 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.05% | 251 of 677 | 4 of 13 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 13 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 13 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 68% of this job's working time as physical work. For 28% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 19% in a purpose-built cell, 9% in a structured facility. 0.36 of 3, the 363rd highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 33%
- No robot shown 40%
- In a purpose-built cell 19%
- In a structured facility 9%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 13 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Study methods to improve aspects of foods, such as chemical composition, flavor, color, texture, nutritional value, and convenience.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 12% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 31%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Study the structure and composition of food or the changes foods undergo in storage and processing.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Eurofins/Elbatron fully-automated food/feed sample preparation system (three ABB robots, CTC PAL liquid handlers) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 12% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 31%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Evaluate food processing and storage operations and assist in the development of quality assurance programs for such operations.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 12% | 2.1 work days5 h to 1.3 work weeks | 23%Half by May 2027 | |
| Develop new food items for production, based on consumer feedback.Done more than yearly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 12% | 3.3 work days6.7 h to 2 work weeks | 10%Half by Oct 2027 | |
| Seek substitutes for harmful or undesirable additives, such as nitrites.Done yearly or less by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 12% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 3.3 work weeks | 5%Half by Apr 2028 | |
| Develop new or improved ways of preserving, processing, packaging, storing, and delivering foods, using knowledge of chemistry, microbiology, and other sciences.Done yearly or less by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 12% | 1.7 work weeks1.7 work days to 1.2 work months | 1%Half by Aug 2028 | |
| Develop food standards and production specifications, safety and sanitary regulations, and waste management and water supply specifications.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 11% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 31%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Test new products for flavor, texture, color, nutritional content, and adherence to government and industry standards.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, ALIS + TA.XTplusC Texture Analyser (Stable Micro Systems) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 3.3 h1.3 h to 1.7 work days | Stays with people | |
| Inspect food processing areas to ensure compliance with government regulations and standards for sanitation, safety, quality, and waste management.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Check raw ingredients for maturity or stability for processing, and finished products for safety, quality, and nutritional value.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Robi III (Eurofins WEJ Contaminants / Elbatron) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Confer with process engineers, plant operators, flavor experts, and packaging and marketing specialists to resolve problems in product development.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 2% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Stay up to date on new regulations and current events regarding food science by reviewing scientific literature.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 1% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | 100%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Food Scientists and Technologists is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 17% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 79% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (56% to 85% across the three paces the site shows). Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Food Scientists and Technologists come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Study methods to improve aspects of foods, such as chemical composition, flavor, color, texture, nutritional value, and convenience (31% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Study the structure and composition of food or the changes foods undergo in storage and processing (31% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Develop food standards and production specifications, safety and sanitary regulations, and waste management and water supply specifications (31% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Food Scientists and Technologists stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Test new products for flavor, texture, color, nutritional content, and adherence to government and industry standards; Inspect food processing areas to ensure compliance with government regulations and standards for sanitation, safety, quality, and waste management; and Check raw ingredients for maturity or stability for processing, and finished products for safety, quality, and nutritional value. Together such tasks are about 14% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Food Scientists and Technologists?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Food Scientists and Technologists?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 68% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 28% of the working time, 9% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.36 of 3. One example: Robi III (Eurofins WEJ Contaminants / Elbatron) for "check raw ingredients for maturity or stability for processing, and finished products for safety, quality, and nutritional value". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 13 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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