As of June 2026, Food Scientists and Technologists has an AI-exposure score of 59/100 (Elevated exposure) on the AI-Safe Careers index, blending O*NET tasks, the Anthropic Economic Index, the Penn/OpenAI study, and BLS data. This is an estimate of task exposure, not a prediction of job loss.
Food Scientists and Technologists
More exposed than 62% of the roles we track. Median pay ~US$88,720. About 1,200 projected openings a year (BLS 2024–34 — growth plus replacement).
Pay & demand figures are US medians (BLS, in USD) — your local figures will differ. Your exposure score applies broadly.
How you compare to similar Science roles
Your tasks, by AI exposure
- Evaluate food processing and storage operations and assist in the development of quality assurance programs for such operations.
- Develop new or improved ways of preserving, processing, packaging, storing, and delivering foods, using knowledge of chemistry, microbiology, and other sciences.
- Study the structure and composition of food or the changes foods undergo in storage and processing.
- Seek substitutes for harmful or undesirable additives, such as nitrites.
- Study methods to improve aspects of foods, such as chemical composition, flavor, color, texture, nutritional value, and convenience.
- Develop new food items for production, based on consumer feedback.
- Test new products for flavor, texture, color, nutritional content, and adherence to government and industry standards.
- Check raw ingredients for maturity or stability for processing, and finished products for safety, quality, and nutritional value.
- Develop food standards and production specifications, safety and sanitary regulations, and waste management and water supply specifications.
- Demonstrate products to clients.
- Confer with process engineers, plant operators, flavor experts, and packaging and marketing specialists to resolve problems in product development.
- Inspect food processing areas to ensure compliance with government regulations and standards for sanitation, safety, quality, and waste management.
- Stay up to date on new regulations and current events regarding food science by reviewing scientific literature.
No durable tasks identified for this role — its real, individually-assessed tasks consistently read as augmentable (62%).
Safer adjacent roles
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Workers with AI skills earn a roughly 62% wage premium — adapting pays. — PwC Global AI Jobs Barometer, 2026
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