5 Signs You’re Meant to be a Food Scientist

By: Thomas Siebertz

1. You’re interested in how food is made: How does it go from “farm to fork” or “boat to throat”? Ever wonder why swiss cheese has holes, why beer has bubbles or how chocolate is made? There are so many cool processes and products out there and there is always something new to learn about.

2. You read food labels and google ingredients to find out what they do: The terms sodium acid pyrophosphate, monosodium glutamate and sodium tripolyphosphate intrigue you. There are many ingredients that help to preserve, enhance or flavor foods. I’m always interested in an ingredient I’ve never heard of because I get to research it and learn something new.

3. You care about food safety: Whenever you go out to eat you have an itch to go back into the kitchen and observe employee practices. Food safety is extremely important and one of the reasons I got in to food science. There are so many opportunities to make a difference, whether you work in public health or for a company making sure they have a strong food safety program.

4. You want to understand food on a deeper level: you’re curious about how microbiology and chemistry play a role in food production. Microbiology helps us understand food pathogens, which can harm us, but also helps us control the good bacteria that create fermented foods and beverages. Chemistry gives us insight into how different food particles will react with each other.

5. You like to play with food: You’re the type of cook who comes up with new crazy, new food concoctions; chocolate syrup covered hot pockets and brownies topped with cherry yogurt. People who work in R&D labs get to come up with new flavors and varieties of food products all the time, they have the best jobs!

Can you relate to any of the above signs? Let us know in the comments below!

photo credit: http://analyzemycareer.com/Careers/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/print/agricultural-and-food-scientists.htm