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.
13,060 people do this job in the US. $88,720 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 86%
- 2%
- 12%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h 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: 2%.
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.
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. | 12% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 2%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| 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. | 12% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 2%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| 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 | 1%Half by Apr 2028 | |
| Develop new food items for production, based on consumer feedback.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 12% | 3.3 work days6.7 h to 2 work weeks | 0%Half by Oct 2028 | |
| Seek substitutes for harmful or undesirable additives, such as nitrites.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 12% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 3.3 work weeks | 0%Half by Apr 2029 | |
| 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. | 12% | 1.7 work weeks1.7 work days to 1.2 work months | 0%Half by Aug 2029 | |
| 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 | 2%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| Test new products for flavor, texture, color, nutritional content, and adherence to government and industry standards.Done daily by most who do it. | 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. | 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. | 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 | 95%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).