Food science

Job options

Jobs directly related to your degree include:

• Food technologist
• Health and safety inspector
• Nutritional therapist
• Nutritionist
• Product/process development scientist
• Production manager
• Quality manager
• Secondary school teacher
• Technical brewer

Jobs where your degree would be useful include:

• Chef
• Further education teacher
• Health improvement practitioner
• Market researcher
• Policy officer
• Procurement manager
• Regulatory affairs officer
• Research scientist (life sciences)
• Retail buyer
• Science writer
• Scientific laboratory technician
• Toxicologist

Remember that many employers accept applications from graduates with any degree subject, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here.

Work experience

Work experience is highly valued by employers, so if your course doesn't include an industrial placement, try to get some related experience during the holidays. This could be through a work placement, internship, part-time job or voluntary work. Any kind of role in a food science or food technology setting is useful for developing your skills and allowing you to demonstrate your interest in the industry.

Even if the role itself doesn't perfectly align to what you want to work in later, having experience in the industry setting will help you get an idea of how the workplace works and will be favourable for your CV.

If possible, tailor your work experience to the type of role you're interested in. For example, if you want to become a food technologist, quality manager or product developer, you could look for placements in a food manufacturing company or with a retailer. Alternatively, if you're interested in following a nutritional pathway, try to get some experience in a healthcare or public health setting.

This will also help develop a network of contacts in your selected field for later down the line when you're applying to jobs.

Search for placements and find out more about work experience and internships.

Typical employers

The main employers of food science graduates are food manufacturers, producers, processors and retailers. These can range from global multinational companies to small-to-medium-sized businesses that can contain multiple types of roles including research and development.

Technical service providers and government departments concerned with developing food policy and enforcement processes also offer employment.

Jobs are also available with local authorities and regulatory bodies in areas such as food safety, inspection and analysis.

Food science graduates can also work in a range of areas in the land-based sector, which encompasses agriculture and animals, as well as fresh produce, food service and retail.

Other employers operate in the industrial and scientific sectors. The NHS and private healthcare organisations also offer employment opportunities in nutrition, for example.

Teaching, food journalism, market research and public health promotion are other areas that may recruit food science graduates.

Find information on employers in engineering and manufacturing, environment and agriculture, healthcare and other job sectors.

Skills for your CV

Studying food science allows you to develop a good mix of subject-specific and scientific skills in areas such as:

• analytical chemistry used for food analysis
• food product design and development
• food production
• food processing and engineering
• food safety, sustainability and affordability
• physiology and nutrition
• taste, texture and flavour analysis used in manufacturing and development.

You also develop the technical and practical skills to achieve these through laboratory-based work which is usually a key part of a food science degree.

Food science graduates will also develop broader skills that can be attractive to employers in many sectors, such as:

• ability to conduct research and evaluate the relevant data
• accurate record keeping and report writing
• analytical and problem-solving skills
• attention to detail
• effective communication and presentation skills
• innovative or entrepreneurial thinking
• IT skills
• numerical and statistical awareness
• project-management skills
• teamworking skills
• time management.

Further study

It's common for food science graduates to go on to further study. There are many related postgraduate courses to choose from. Your choice will generally be determined by the career direction or specialty you wish to pursue. For example, you could take a postgraduate diploma or Masters in dietetics, or complete a PhD in nutritional research.

Other areas of postgraduate study include biomedical science, food safety, environmental management and food quality management.

If you're interested in teaching GCSE food preparation and nutrition, you could consider taking a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE), or a professional graduate diploma in education (PGDE) in Scotland.

For more information on further study and to find a course that interests you, see Masters degrees and search postgraduate courses in food sciences.

What do food science graduates do?

23% of food science graduates work as engineering professionals, with a further 15% working as secondary education teaching professionals. Production managers and directors in manufacturing, kitchen and catering assistants, other vocational and industrial trainers, teaching professionals, chartered and certified accountants, chefs, and farm workers are also among the top ten jobs reported.

Find out what other graduates are doing 15 months after finishing their degrees in What do graduates do?

Graduate Outcomes survey data from HESA.

Find out more

• Institute of Food Science + Technology (IFST)