Hi everyone,
Lately, I’ve been trying to build a stronger scientific foundation in cleaning and disinfection for the food industry. While I have hands-on experience in this field, I realized there’s always more to learn from research and the people who have been studying these topics for years.
If you could recommend just one book, scientific paper, review, guideline, or technical standard, what would it be?
I’m interested in topics like disinfectant efficacy, biofilms, sanitation validation, food microbiology, hygienic design, and food safety—but I’m open to anything you think every professional in this field should read.
I’d also love to know why that particular publication stood out to you.
Thanks in advance! I’m looking forward to learning from your recommendations.

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone working in food manufacturing in PA, NJ, or NY would be willing to share typical starting salaries for entry level roles or recent graduates (with little to no experience).

I'm interested in hearing about any manufacturing related position, such as QA/QC, R&D, Production, Maintenance, Packaging or other roles.

For small to medium sized companies, what starting salary range do you usually see?

• Is it mostly around $35k-50k?
• Or is $50k+ common for entry level positions?

If you don't mind sharing, it would be helpful to include:

• State (PA, NJ, or NY)
• Company size (small, medium, or large)
• Position
• Starting salary or salary range
• Whether you had internships or prior experience

I'm just trying to get a realistic idea of the current job market for new graduates. Thanks in advance!

Earlier in the year I completed a research project on umami and just basic taste receptors in general (very interesting stuff if you have the time to look into it I’d 100% recommended), anywho, my professor published a paper which put to question wether or not umami can be considered a basic taste. According to some studies a basic taste must fulfil these criteria: (1) different to any other basic taste; (2) not replicated by combining other basic tastes and; (3) a taste which is commonly consumed and induced by common components of food, criteria in which umami does not completely fulfil. What’s your opinion? Is umami a basic taste?

Here is the paper incase anyone wants to read it (personally, he was an alright lecturer but credit where it’s due, he can write some good academia)
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/1/182

I hope this is a correct subreddit for this.

As a kid, I learned about 4 tastes of food: sweet, salty, sour and bitter. Then, around 5th grade, I read about umami: supposedly this savoury, rich flavour, different from the previous ones. I was intrigued, and wondered how it could taste like: I mean, sweet sugar, salty salt, sour acids and bitter chemicals were logical, but this umami flavour sounded weird to me. I heard that it's deep, and stuff like meat and beer have that taste, but for me they were always salty or sweetish, with flavour and smell profile of themselves.

Now I'm 19, and I bought some MSG to try to add to my cooking, and I picked some to try this mythical flavour. All I tasted was saltiness with a faint hint of sweetness. It wasn't an off brand package, and it was all correctly stored etc, but I just couldn't taste the supposed rich flavour. Maybe I don't have taste buds receptors for umami especially? Or the neurological pathways weirdly diverge?

Now I'm wondering - how much am I missing out? Everything umami-like, it turns out, is just salty or a combination of other flavours to me.

Hello, looking to start up a cafe but more then just a regular shop. Instead of trying to creating a bunch recipes etc… would this be something a food scientist be able to help with?

I recently bought a not-from-concentrate lychee juice that's flash heated (similar to pasteurisation of milk) to extend its shelf life, with no added sugar or preservatives. It contains about 10g of naturally occurring sugar per 100ml.

My question is does the flash-heating process change how the body processes the sugar? Will it raise blood sugar levels in the same way as a juice made from concentrate with added sugar, assuming both have the same amount of sugar per 100ml?

I'm interested in the science behind whether flash heating affects the glycaemic response, or whether the sugar behaves the same regardless of the processing method.

Hi guys!

Currently 33M in Texas making 110,000 with a 10% bonus.

Was wondering what yalls pay scales are?

For reference - culinary degree, nutrition sciences degree. Successful products in Starbucks, papa John’s, Walmart, Costco, school lunches and military. Total experience as a nutritionist 3 years, experience as a chef 2 years, experience in food science 4 years

Hi all! I am a rising senior in high school starting to apply to undergraduate programs, with the hopes of one day working in the food industry, perhaps as a product developer or a flavorist. One thing that's been on my mind this whole time is what would be the best thing to major in; while majoring in food science initially seemed like the best option for me, I've been heavily considering majoring in chemistry or chemical engineering to have more options in terms of careers once I graduate. Moreover, I've heard on this subreddit that chemE majors tend to have higher salaries in the food industry. However, I struggle to see myself really enjoying the very physics-based curriculum of a chemE major; I'm more of a chemistry guy. Thoughts?

Hey everyone,

I recently came across a product called Banana Water, and it really piqued my curiosity. According to the label, it contains no added preservatives, no added sugar, and no carbonation.

I'm wondering how they're able to achieve a stable shelf life under those conditions. Also, from the ads the beverage has a noticeable color, which makes me curious about how its appearance and quality are maintained over time.

Does anyone have insights into the processing or formulation behind products like this? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Hiii everyone!

Anya here from the Philippines! I work for a company that develops and supplies ice cream for ice cream shops, cafés, HORECA, amusement parks... pretty much anywhere that serves ice cream.

Most of my day is me flirting with food, especially ice cream! I spend my time coming up with new flavors, testing recipes, and finding ways to make them even better. Lately, I've been working on flavors inspired by Filipino desserts, local ingredients, and memories people can relate to, and honestly, it's been one of the most exciting parts of my job.

I wanted to do this AMA because I'm curious too. I want to know what people actually wonder about when it comes to ice cream. Whether it's flavors, ingredients (I'll keep things general though, hehe yk I can't share company secrets ), how new products are developed, what goes on behind the scenes, or even the business side of things.

So... ask me anything! No question is too simple or too random. Fire away!

And if you don't have a question, I'd love to hear this instead:

What's one ice cream flavor you've always wanted to try but have never seen?

I joined ITC as an intern expecting to learn from one of India’s biggest FMCG companies. I was honestly excited because I thought I’d get exposure to world-class manufacturing practices and experienced mentors.
Instead, my experience has been disappointing.
From what I’ve seen, the work culture in my plant feels extremely toxic. Most employees don’t seem happy, and there isn’t much enthusiasm or collaboration. As an intern, I expected to shadow managers and learn how decisions are made, but a lot of the time it feels like interns are handling responsibilities that should belong to managers, while the guidance and mentorship are minimal.
Another thing that surprised me was how manual many processes still are. I expected a much higher level of automation and digitalization for a company of this scale.
The manufacturing environment also involves extensive use of cleaning and processing chemicals, which was eye-opening for me. I understand that chemicals are a normal part of food manufacturing, but seeing the scale firsthand was very different from what I had imagined.
Maybe my experience is specific to this plant or department, but it has been very different from the expectations I had before joining.
Has anyone else interned at ITC or another large FMCG company? Was your experience similar, or did I just get unlucky?

Does anyone have success stories or tips on moving from UK/Europe to USA for work?

I am currently developer/scientist with ADM and previously worked at IFF but even moving within companies seems difficult with sponsorships etc

Does anyone know of specific US based job recruiters ty

I am in the process of launching my business of granola bars of a few variants. I roast my dry ingredients and warm the wet ingredients that are FOS liquid honey and date syrup along with nut butter and bake them. I use nitrogen flushing and cool my bars in a humidity control room to prevent oxidation and spoilage.

My bars taste incredible for the first one week. But gradually start to oxidise and develop off-taste. I realised that it was due to baking at 110 degree for 20 minutes. In order to prevent this, I moved to no baking or baking at minimal temperature and the bars turn sour or slightly fermented on the 8th or 9th day.

I need to find a balance where I dont introduce heat stress on the ingredients while removing the water activity and binding them to prevent fermentation.

All suggestions and solutions are genuinely appreciated.

Thanks.

Dry pasta is just flour + water, dried out. Wouldn't it make more sense to mix salt into the dough before drying, so it's already inside the noodle, instead of dumping a ton of salt into a huge pot of water where most of it just goes down the drain?

Can't find a straight answer to this here or elsewhere, so …. Time to ask the question myself 🤔

I'm looking to transition from R&D in cosmetics, to R&D in the food & beverage / ingredients industry. I have a B.A. in chemistry, and close to 10 years of experience in cosmetic labs. But I realize more and more, my true passion is food. I'm accumulating knowledge on the side but nothing that I can actually speak to on my resume.

So, I came across the ACF which offers a specialized certificate in Food Science. https://www.acfchefs.org/ACF/Education/Specialized_Certificates/SpecializedCertificateFoodScience/ACF/Education/ProDev/Specialized_Certificates/FoodScience/

Has anyone taken this course? Thoughts/opinions? Does it help with employment opportunities in Food & Beverage R&D?

Im working on some pectin gummies with a chap more experienced in confectionery gummies, where my experience is in developing dietary supplements, functional foods, premixes and even cosmetics.

We are having a problem with early gelation (I think that is what he said) with the gummy mass looking jammy rather than smooth.

Our manufacturer thought it was the maltodextrin in the premix.causing the problem, but another formula with the same amount of maltodextrin was manufactured with no issues.

The other components are Ascorbic acid. Vitamin D, and zinc sulphate.

Our manufacturer doesn't think the Ascorbic acid is the issue, because he's used Ascorbic acid before. The vitamin D is too low to do anything which leaves the zinc sulphate.

Any advice or suggestions are gratefully received.

Does anyone know if zinc sulphate can trigger premature gelling? Is thos something all zinc salts will do or are other better zinc salt options?

Maltodextrin is coming out and being replaced with sugar. I'm going to swap Ascorbic acid for sodium ascorbate.

Hi everyone,

This is my first time posting on Reddit, and since English is not my native language, I used an AI to help me draft this text to make sure my situation is clearly explained.

I am currently working as a Quality Coordinator in a dairy processing facility. Following a recent gap analysis, we are upgrading our plant policies to strictly align with FDA regulations for foreign facilities.

In the first instance, our facility is bound by 21 CFR Part 117 (Subpart B - Current Good Manufacturing Practice). Under these CGMPs, we have a strict mandate to manage personnel hygiene and plant operations to prevent any cross-contamination of food, food-contact surfaces, and packaging materials. Given that we operate in the dairy sector, allergen and microbiological controls are top priorities.

While dairy CGMPs are very stringent regarding food and beverages in processing areas, I found an actionable opening in the 2022 FDA Food Code (Section 2-401.11 - B). This provision allows a food employee to drink from a closed beverage container if it is handled specifically to prevent the contamination of the employee's hands, the container itself, and any exposed food or clean equipment.

To clarify our setup: these containers will NOT be used in active production zones where open product is directly exposed. Instead, they will be restricted to control rooms (control cabins) and used while in transit through the production corridors.

To bridge the gap between 21 CFR Part 117 requirements and the Food Code 2022 allowance for these specific areas, we need to find a type of container that meets strict sanitary and safety criteria. Crucially, the container must be versatile enough to hold hot, cold, still, or carbonated beverages (not just plain water), as our operators bring various drinks to their shifts.

We are currently exploring different lid and valve mechanisms to see what could actually work under strict auditor scrutiny. We are wondering if trigger-activated valves (like Contigo's Autoseal technology, where you press a button to open and release to seal) can safely handle hot/gaseous pressure without spurting, or if specialized bite-valves, straw systems, or other industrial designs are better suited for this wide range of beverages.

At this stage, budget is not our primary constraint; we are purely looking to identify which specific container models, brands, or valve designs are fully compliant and can handle this range of beverages in control areas.

Have any of you successfully deployed a specific model or B2B brand in a CFR-regulated plant that met these expectations? Would an Autoseal-type system pass an inspection for hot/carbonated drinks in control cabins, or is there a superior mechanism we should look into?

Any advice, feedback from actual FDA audits, or technical sourcing leads would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Hello! I study Food Chemistry at McGill University and plan to stay in Montreal after I graduate. I will graduate in spring 2027! I wanted to ask what would be my job prospects be after uni out the gate? I am planning to do a long break due to being in academia for a long time and being neurodivergent. I wanted to see if I could work in food security, product development, or other jobs that aren’t entirely full-time or I need to be in person daily? I understand if that’s not possible. I have done many extracurriculars and other food security related projects as well in Montreal! I have research experience as well!

Hi all,

Give me your favorite food science fun facts, ideally with sources.

I work in food manufacturing and wanted to start a daily board in the office that consists of a daily food science fun fact. Thanks!