According to my market research tools, there a few people who find My Food Job Rocks and want to know if Food Science is hard. I realized that no one really talks about how easy or how difficult the profession is. So here’s my take as someone who has a bachelor’s in Food Science has worked in the industry and has interviewed plenty of scientists.
So I’m going to give two perspectives: as a major and as a profession. This is important because there are high school students who want to research the profession, but a surprising amount of people look into food science while working. The idea for this article is not to convince you that it’s easy, but to convince you that it’s the right fit.
Majoring in Food Science
Food Science as a bachelor of science major is largely chemistry and microbiology based. Food is composed of chemicals, like water and glucose and therefore we have to understand why chemical reactions happen the way they do. For example, why does fat oxidize and taste rancid and how does water freeze. These are fundamentally important and the deeper you understand this, the easier your life becomes in the food world.
However, the stark contrast of Food Science versus something like a Chemistry major is that you only need to know a little bit of each. For example, in organic chemistry, it’s super useful to know the shapes of a molecule like sugar and amino acids and why they interact, but you don’t need to know how certain reactions create certain compounds (as that’s more for the drug industry). In some very niche professions like being a flavor chemist, then this knowledge helps a bit more, but in general, most people just need an intro class for each of the sciences to survive. Some schools do this, others don’t.
Food Science is known as an applied science, in that you take the basics of science and apply it to actually creating something that people can recognize.
It’s not like quorums and proofs such as a PhD in math, you are dealing with real stuff and therefore, it can’t be complicated, at leas tin a theory perspective.
The following courses are generally required for a for a food science degree:
- Chemistry
- Organic Chemistry
- Biochemistry (surprisingly important for product development)
- Biology
- Microbiology (for Food Safety)
- Calculus (I don’t use this)
- Physics (I barely use this)
- Statistics (essential for sensory science)
- Communications (important, but not taught correctly)
- Basic Accounting (has some uses)
- Nutrition
If I were to do it all over again, I would focus much more on Biochemistry as it’s saved my butt so many times. Understanding how macromolecules interact has been vital to creating great products.
If you are a person where seeing is believing, or a visual learner, food science might be for you. You do have to slog though the sciences, so if you are not into that, there are plenty of other careers that might be more your fancy such as marketing, graphic design, or even accounting. You can work in the food industry with those degrees!
So is the food science degree hard? It’s not as hard as a chemistry degree but it’s harder than an English degree in terms of how much science you need to know. You have to have some science and logical skill so if you did not excel in this in high school, then it might not be for you.
Food Science As a Profession
A good amount of food scientists never had a food science degree but they still thrive as food scientists.
Though a degree in food science gives you an awesome fundamental background, you definitively do not need a degree in food science to become a food scientist. In fact, if your degree is in chemistry, nutrition, or even chemical engineering, your skillset can be very valuable as a food scientist because you know something different yet equally important.
Since food science is an applied science, it’s dynamic yet tangible. And actually doing your job is the best way to gain experience.
The big issue is that the food industry changes constantly and job roles are generally not well researched until you’re in the industry so actually, most of the stuff you have to learn is on the job. Though you’re exposed to the concept of an SOP as a food science major, the company you work for has a method that might be way different and will teach you that method. Same with documentation, same with the formulation.
Depending on the profession, food science can be hard. If you’re in the factory, it can be very challenging.
What I’ve noticed to be the most important is company culture. Because in the food industry, you have to work with so many groups, you are dependent entirely on external factors. As an R+D scientist, your job can be easy such as making sure you can sell these cookies to Australia or you have to change your plant-based meat product into being Organic certified. There will always be unique and challenging projects that can either be hard or easy so if you like this, then it’s probably the right profession for you.
Overall, food scientists have higher job satisfaction ratings than a majority of professions according to this study. If you are looking for an easy way out, work for a company that is really big and has an easy product to make. Like spices, for instance. Corporate jobs are generally less stressful than factory jobs unless the corporate job is bureaucratic to the brim.
There are so many food companies out there doing great work. At least in my point of view, it’s a fun, dynamic industry with a lot of ups and downs. And best of all, you can tell people you eat cookies all day.