Job market craves food scientists
Rachel Moten, posted Dec. 5, 2006
Most college
students want a high paying job when they graduate. “Food
scientists have one of the highest starting salaries in agriculture
in the country, which is $48,000,” said Ingolf Gruen,
associate professor of food chemistry at MU. Not only will
a food science graduate find a good paying job, but also a
fun job.
“The best thing about food science is literally being able to play with your food from sensory to product development,” said Sunny Griffin, MU graduate and manager of Tate & Lyle Company.
 |
Ingolf
Gruen, associate professor of food chemistry, says the
food science profession is full of rewards. Gruen
teaches food chemistry and analysis for undergraduate
and graduate levels, and he's now teaching a grapes
and wines course.
— Photo by Rachel Moten
|
“No one will hand you a job just because you graduate,” said Andrew Siebenborn, operations manager for Breyers/Unilever. “If you do the work and find your own internships, find your own job interviews, are willing to relocate to the job you desire, you will without a doubt be successful in a job hunt.” From Gruen’s perspective, students should major in food science and nutrition because it is “one of the most solid, long-term, job security guaranteed types of careers,” Gruen said.
Peter Graf, MU student, had an internship with Monsanto and while it did not focus on the food as a finished product, the crop production that he focused on helped him learn about the supplier side of the food industry.
Kraft Foods, Breyer’s Ice Cream, Kellogg Cereal, Solae Company, French’s, Hershey, General Mills, Aramark, and ADM are only a few companies where MU’s food science alumni work. “We need more food scientist in the nation because there are not enough graduates majoring in this field,” Gruen said. “We need people with expertise in food science is what it boils down to.”
Gruen has been working at MU for over 10 years. “I am an April Fool’s guy,” Gruen said jokingly. He began on April 1, 1996. Gruen teaches food chemistry and analysis for undergraduate and graduate levels, and he’s now teaching a grapes and wines course for the fourth time. “I’ve had a love for food science and I’ve loved chemistry since my sophomore year in college,” Gruen said.
“Literally thousands of biology majors are finishing from American higher education institutions, and they don’t all find jobs in the biology area,” Gruen said. “A student who majors in food science can take their likes and dislikes and still find something in the realm of the food industry because the variety of opportunity is tremendous.”
Natalie Kollars, MU food science and nutrition student, said that prior to deciding on being a food science major, she had gotten her culinary degree and realized that she enjoyed the kitchen but needed answers to the “why.” Kollars said, “Food Science and Nutrition is supplying the answers and a promising future.”
“There are many outlets for someone majoring in food science, from flavor/fragrance industry to consumer packaged goods. There are many options,” said Griffin.
“I like being in a kitchen atmosphere and having an opportunity to problem solve,” Kollars said. “Someone has got to develop new flavors or better food choices.” Students have fun learning about food science even though there are some tough courses they are required to take. For instance, microbiology is a challenging subject because of the amount of information that has to be retained is overwhelming.
“The thing I enjoy most enjoy about majoring in food science is that I get to learn a lot about an industry that everyone constantly uses, and most people don't take much time to think about how it really works,” said Peter Graf, MU student.
“In general, I liked food science because I liked the idea of getting food from the farm to the grocery stores,” said Amber Scherer, employee of North American Milk Products.
Benefits to majoring in this field are “job security and huge varieties of jobs are out there,” Gruen said. “It’s not just one type, but a multitude. For example, if you want to have a desk job, or desk and lab job, you can.”
“There are three major duties a food scientist can perform: research and development, quality insurance, and production supervisor,” Gruen said. Research and development is “the field that does a lot of work in creating new ideas for products and they also have to be able to cook the products, which is also something I enjoy,” said Graf.
MU’s graduates from the food science program often e-mail saying how they love their jobs, which gives Gruen a lot of satisfaction because of their positive feedback. Siebenborn said, “The knowledge and background I had coming from academic experience and internship experience gave me an advantage in moving forward to my current position.”
One of the most important things Kollars has learned from the food science program at MU is networking. “What you participate in and the diversity of organizations is what gives you a competitive edge out in the industry,” Kollars said.
MU ensures that students will be prepared for a job in the food science and nutrition field because the program “follows a closely monitored degree program throughout the nation,” Gruen said. Indirectly they look to the national industries for the criteria. MU tries to listen to their “industry partners to make sure students get their education they need to succeed,” said Gruen. What distinguish this program from other university’s programs are the research programs and this translates where the emphasis is placed on the undergraduate programs.
Graf said, “Once I did a science experiment in middle school about carbonation in soda, and ever since then I’ve enjoyed working with food and doing experiments with it,” said Graf. “When I found that MU had a food science department I knew it was a perfect fit.”
Whether students realize it or not, food science can be applied to everyday life. “Any food products you eat that are packaged, someone has taken the time to consider storage, spoilage, packaging, manufacturing, enrichments and stabilizers,” Kollars said. “The list is endless and the demand for processed foods and meals on the go is increasing.”
According to Gruen, the reason food scientists are needed in America is they have a lot of impact on our food supply. America has the safest food supply in the world and the greatest variety of and influence on our food around the world.
“We are a constantly demanding, changing, impatient and growing nation so they need a constant influx of food scientists in order to satisfy this,” said Griffin. “Each month there must be hundreds of new products launched in order to satisfy the consumer and it takes an army of food scientists to deliver these products.”
“As the population develops, it will always develop healthier ways of living. Living means eating, so we will need to develop healthier foods, or ways to enhance the nutrition of our current foods,” Siebenborn said. “Whether it is a cheaper way process natural resources or a better tasting, nutritious box of Cheerios, development drives the economy.”
“Food scientists ensure safe and high-quality foods,” Scherer said. “Without food scientists, who would check that people are consuming safe foods, generate new products that make life easier, and come up with new ways to make cheaper, better and new products?”
Through her work in the food science industry, Scherer helps the economy, helps dairy farmers make the most money that they can, helps make sure that there is enough milk for people to drink, and increases cheese and butter inventories.
