Food Science Technician Work with food scientists or technologists to perform standardized qualitative and quantitative tests to determine physical or chemical properties of food or beverage products. Includes technicians who assist in research and development of production technology, quality control, packaging, processing, and use of foods.
Food Science Technician is Also Know as
In different settings, Food Science Technician is titled as
- Central Laboratory Technician (CLT)
- Food Science Tech (Food Science Technician)
- Laboratory Assistant (Lab Assistant)
- Laboratory Technician (Lab Tech)
- QA Lab Tech (Quality Assurance Lab Technician)
- QC Tech (Quality Assurance Technician)
- QC Tech (Quality Control Technician)
- Quality Analyst
- Quality Assurance Analyst (QA Analyst)
- Quality Tech (Quality Technician)
Education and Training of Food Science Technician
Food Science Technician is categorized in Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
Experience Required for Food Science Technician
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Education Required for Food Science Technician
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Degrees Related to Food Science Technician
- Bachelor in Agricultural and Food Products Processing
- Associate Degree Courses in Agricultural and Food Products Processing
- Masters Degree Courses in Agricultural and Food Products Processing
- Bachelor in Food Science
- Associate Degree Courses in Food Science
- Masters Degree Courses in Food Science
- Bachelor in Food Technology and Processing
- Associate Degree Courses in Food Technology and Processing
- Masters Degree Courses in Food Technology and Processing
- Bachelor in Brewing Science
- Associate Degree Courses in Brewing Science
- Masters Degree Courses in Brewing Science
- Bachelor in Zymology/Fermentation Science
- Associate Degree Courses in Zymology/Fermentation Science
- Masters Degree Courses in Zymology/Fermentation Science
- Bachelor in Food Science and Technology, Other
- Associate Degree Courses in Food Science and Technology, Other
- Masters Degree Courses in Food Science and Technology, Other
Training Required for Food Science Technician
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Related Ocuupations
Some Ocuupations related to Food Science Technician in different industries are
- Food Scientists and Technologists
- Chemical Technicians
- Quality Control Analysts
- Agricultural Technicians
- Agricultural Inspectors
- Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
- Calibration Technologists and Technicians
- Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers
- Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders
- Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians
- Chemists
- Food Batchmakers
- Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products
- Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians
- Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists
- Quality Control Systems Managers
- Biofuels Processing Technicians
- Chemical Plant and System Operators
- Histotechnologists
- Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders
What Do Food Science Technician do?
- Conduct standardized tests on food, beverages, additives, or preservatives to ensure compliance with standards and regulations regarding factors such as color, texture, or nutrients.
- Provide assistance to food scientists or technologists in research and development, production technology, or quality control.
- Compute moisture or salt content, percentages of ingredients, formulas, or other product factors, using mathematical and chemical procedures.
- Record or compile test results or prepare graphs, charts, or reports.
- Analyze test results to classify products or compare results with standard tables.
- Taste or smell foods or beverages to ensure that flavors meet specifications or to select samples with specific characteristics.
- Examine chemical or biological samples to identify cell structures or to locate bacteria or extraneous material, using a microscope.
- Mix, blend, or cultivate ingredients to make reagents or to manufacture food or beverage products.
- Measure, test, or weigh bottles, cans, or other containers to ensure that hardness, strength, or dimensions meet specifications.
- Order supplies needed to maintain inventories in laboratories or in storage facilities of food or beverage processing plants.
- Maintain records of testing results or other documents as required by state or other governing agencies.
- Monitor and control temperature of products.
- Perform regular maintenance of laboratory equipment by inspecting, calibrating, cleaning, or sterilizing.
- Train newly hired laboratory personnel.
- Prepare or incubate slides with cell cultures.
- Supervise other food science technicians.
Qualities of Good Food Science Technician
- Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
- Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
- Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
- Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
- Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
- Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
- Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
- Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
- Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
- Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
- Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
- Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
- Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
- Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
- Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
- Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
- Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
- Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
- Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
- Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
- Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
- Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
- Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
- Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
- Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
- Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
- Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
- Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
- Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Tools Used by Food Science Technician
- Agar plates
- Anaerobic jars
- Benchtop centrifuges
- Bioluminometers
- Boiling water baths
- Bunsen burners
- Calorimeters
- Colony counters
- Color testing equipment
- Compound binocular light microscopes
- Desktop computers
- Dessicators
- Distilling equipment
- Dropping pipettes
- Dry bulb thermometers
- Electronic toploading balances
- Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ELISA plate readers
- Erlenmeyer flasks
- Eyewash fountains
- Fire extinguishers
- Fluorescent microscopes
- Fume hoods
- Gas analyzers
- General purpose laboratory test tubes
- Grinders
- Handheld thermometers
- Homogenizers
- Hot air ovens
- Inoculation tubes
- Laboratory balances
- Laboratory beakers
- Laboratory blenders
- Laboratory clamps
- Laboratory coats
- Laboratory convection ovens
- Laboratory funnels
- Laboratory glass burets
- Laboratory hot plates
- Laboratory knives
- Laboratory mechanical convection incubators
- Laboratory mixers
- Laboratory stirring rods
- Laboratory strainers
- Laboratory tongs
- Laser printers
- Magnetic retrievers
- Magnetic stir bars
- Magnetic stirrers
- Metal detectors
- Microscope slides
- Microwell readers
- Moisture balances
- Moisture meters
- Mortars and pestles
- Notebook computers
- Particle size testing equipment
- Pasteur pipettes
- Personal computers
- Petri dishes
- pH meters
- Precision scales
- Safety gloves
- Safety goggles
- Safety showers
- Siphons
- Steam autoclaves
- Steam sterilizers
- Temperature probes
- Triple beam balances
- Ultraviolet UV lights
- Universal indicators
- Vacuum ovens
- Viscosity testing equipment
- Water activity meters
- Wet bulb thermometers
- Zhan cups
Technology Skills required for Food Science Technician
- Apache JMeter
- Apache Struts
- Database software
- Graphical user interface GUI design software
- Graphics software
- IBM Lotus Notes
- IBM WebSphere
- Linux
- Microsoft Access
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft SQL Server
- Microsoft Visio
- Microsoft Word
- Oracle WebLogic Server
- Presentation software
- Red Hat WildFly
- SAP software
- SAS
- Spreadsheet software
- Structure query language SQL
- Word processing software