If you are considering pursuing food science as your career, you need to know what your future prospects are as a food scientist. Food science as a career involves making food more nutritious, safe, and convenient.
It begins with an understanding of edible plants and animals and ends on understanding why people choose certain foods. But before that, you need to know if food science is a suitable career for you or not.
Here is a list of questions you must ask yourself before getting yourself enrolled in a food science degree program:
- Do I love science?
- Am I interested in Food preparation and production?
- Do I give attention to minute details?
- Am I good at communication?
- Can I work with strict hygiene rules?
- Am I confident enough to reinforce rules and regulations?
If the answer to most of these is in the affirmative, you have the potential to become a food scientist. In this course, you will learn all about food from different perspectives.
- The physical characteristics of food and changes it undergoes through different processes
- The chemical composition of foods and the factors affecting it
- The microbiology of food
- Nutrition
- Food Safety
- Food Preservation
- Food Production
Career Options after Degree in Food Sciences
After completing your graduation in Food Sciences, you can work in the following capacities:
Nutritional Therapist
As a nutritional therapist, you know that most diseases are a result of a dietary and nutritional imbalance in a person’s life, therefore your approach will be holistic towards designing personalized nutrition and lifestyle plans for your client’s health and well-being.
Food Technologist
As a food technologist, your job is to assure those food products are produced, processed, and manufactured according to the standards of safety, quality, and hygiene.
Product/Process Development Scientist
As a product development scientist, your research will aid the manufacture of new products and improve existing ones. As a process development scientist, you’ll develop new processes to ensure the highest quality products.
Quality Control Manager
As a quality manager, you’ll have to ensure that the quality of your product not only meets the customer expectations but also complies with legal standards. It is your duty to develop and implement a quality management system for your organization.
In addition to that, there are certain other jobs where your degree would be useful. You may work as an animal nutritionist, regulatory affairs officer, scientific laboratory technician, research scientist, purchasing manager, production manager, or chef.
Food Science as a Career: Why and Why Not
Like every career food science also has its pros and cons. Every individual can judge by weighing the pros and cons for themselves. After reading this you’ll find it easier to decide if this is the right career for you.
Job Security
The food industry is the largest industry in the world which is growing day by day. If you are working, for example, with a food supply chain, you will always have numerous job opportunities at your hand.
Career Growth
Food companies are always hiring and creating positions, you can find countless jobs and careers as a food scientist.
Diverse Environment
If you become a food scientist, there are literally thousands of different jobs available for you. It opens a lot of opportunities for you such as in quality control, Research and Development, manufacturing, or teaching.
Salary Possibilities
Food scientists are often earning high salaries in Hawaii. The median salary for people with Food Science was $80,000. People who were in management positions made above six figures.
Food
If you are a food lover, you will definitely enjoy working in the food industry. You will discover new flavors, food combinations, and enjoy creating new products, testing them for quality, and doing research.
Travel Opportunities
If you like traveling you may find a job which gives you an opportunity to travel. Many multinational companies, international food chains, and airlines offer travel opportunities.
Certain aspects: may not like
Exposure to Hazards
Working in the food industry you may have to face certain biological and chemical hazards, including unpleasant conditions at cattle farms and processing plants.
Weight Gain
As a food scientist, you may have to check sample food every day, and if you’re a food lover you are likely to eat three times more than you’re supposed to eat.
Unethical Practices
Working in the food industry, you’ll learn about a lot of unethical business practices, lots and lots of food wasted on both producer’s and consumers’ end. Certain aspects of food such as organic, extra virgin are not regulated properly.
As a nutritionist, you know the adverse effects of processed foods but as food scientists, you need to work on their processing and marketing. As a food science student, you have to study a lot of science. If you aren’t a science person this field isn’t suitable for you.
Dirty Work
The experimenting and testing on rotten, molded, or fermented food can leave you disgusted.
Final Words
After weighing the advantages and disadvantages of selecting food science as a career, I must say that the pros of becoming a food scientist overweight the cons. But everyone can decide for themselves what appeals to them as their future career prospect.
Author Bio: Mrs. Bina Rehan writes about Diet, health, and nutrition. She is a qualified nutritionist. She designs customized diet plans and guides people about foods that will help them fight disease and stay healthy. She can be found on facebook.
Ayesha completed her Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and started her career as a College Lecturer in 2013. Today, she’s a happy mom of 2 Kids in the field of digital marketing. She loves reading books, spending time with her family, and making delicious food for her husband.
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