You Can Taste the Science!
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The life of a Food and Flavor Chemist usually takes place in a lab, which is really just a kitchen, complete with blenders, ovens, and other kitchenware. The Chemist’s work is often to prepare foods as they would at home, but to also take a close look at the chemistry that goes into preparing the foods. The Chemists experiment with chemical and substance proportions or combine new substances to optimize flavor or nutritional value. Their research will then be utilized by the food industry to affect the taste and nutritional value of the foodstuffs that are sold in supermarkets, gas stations, and anywhere else that sells food.
The salary for a Food and Flavor Chemist looking for a career in Houston could be looking at a salary that ranges from $28,750 annually (entry level salary), to $41,667 annually (low), to $53,634 annually (typical), to about $70,940 annually (high). There are cases though that a chemist with a Ph.D. can have a salary that exceeds $85,000 a year.
When trying to find what courses to look for in college, for the Food and Flavor Chemist-to-be, the most basic degree to aim for would be a bachelor’s degree in food science, biochemistry, chemistry, or microbiology. Most times, a student would take an undergraduate degree in either chemistry or biology and then go on to receive their masters in a food science program. A Ph.D. is usually required for independent research, teaching at a university, and for executive positions in a company.
A college bound student with an interest in being a Food and Flavor Chemist would look to study at the University of Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, California, the Cornell University Food Science and Technology graduate school in Ithaca, New York or the Food Science graduate school at the Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The graduate school at Cornell asks for its potential students to have three recommendations and have passed the GRE general test. Information for Rutgers’ can be accessed on their website http://foodsci.rutgers.edu/ .
The major courses one can expect to be available for a degree in Food Science and Technology would be: dairy science, enology, food chemistry, food engineering, food microbiology, food processing, waste technology, food science, and sensory evaluation.
If you have a passion for food and chemistry, then a career as a Food and Flavor Chemist may be for you. Five of the coolest things about this career are:
·The amount of creativity involved in creating new flavors
·There is never a typical day at work; New experiences await every day
·Work is done inside and outside the lab; the chemist needs to go out and find how the public reacts to their creation.
·Be able to adjust and perfect your favorite snacks and drinks
·Be the first to test out new foods before they ever hit markets.
The life of a Food and Flavor Chemist is an exciting, driven life that requires dedication, knowledge, a love of food, a little creativity, and a “taste” for science. If you got all these then you should definitely look into a career as a Food and Flavor Chemist.
