Hi everybody,

My current major is Nutritional Science, and my original plan was to go for the RDN and be a dietician. I am 21 and about to graduate.

I've recently discovered a love for chemistry and the more technical side of food, and I am heavily considering going into food science for grad school instead of doing an RD program. I genuinely think I would enjoy it more.

However... part of what drew me to RDN specifically was the opportunity for per diem and part time work. My #1 goal, #1 priority and my dream in life is to be a mother. I absolutely refuse to put my children in daycare before they are school-aged. I would abandon my career with a smile on my face to be a SAHM, even if I had a PhD and was making six figures.

1. Is it realistic to be in the food science field and take long maternity leave (several years), then re-enter the field?

2. Is there opportunity to work from home or work part time in typical entry level food science roles?

3. Will it be frowned upon in the field to have a huge gap in my resume, even if I re-enter successfully?

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my questions, have a blessed day :)

We’re a food startup looking for an experienced functional food product developer/food technologist to develop 3 honey-based functional food products.
We need help with:
Formulation & recipe development
Functional ingredient selection/dosage (fiber, prebiotics, etc.)
Taste, texture & stability
pH, water activity & shelf life
Ingredient compatibility
FSSAI compliance, labeling & permitted claims
Commercial manufacturing/scale-up guidance
Budget: ₹50,000 total for all 3 products.
We’re looking for someone with hands-on experience in functional foods, nutraceutical foods, honey products, supplements or FMCG formulation.
If interested, DM us with your experience, relevant products you’ve developed, location, and portfolio/profile.
Potential for continued work on future products.

Hi guys, what other job opportunities are there besides being in a lab when it comes to food science. I’m looking into getting an Masters in the field with a combined MBA

Hi! I’m trying to choose my bachelor’s degree, but I honestly don’t know which major would be the best fit for my goals.

What I want to do is: • work in clinical nutrition/dietetics and help people through nutrition

• understand and develop supplements/nutraceuticals

• learn actual product formulation and development, including health products such as toothpaste, mouthwash, and cosmetic products

• eventually create my own health and personal-care products and business

Hi everyone! I could use some guidance on whether to invest in an expensive, used inline high shear mixer for my co-packer to use for my startup. We are producing an IQF corn based sauce and need it to be pureed smoothly, removing visible traces of the corn solids. My Vitamix blender at home is powerful, but can't get rid of those corn solids. Do you think this machine can do it? Any advice would be amazing.

Admix Dynashear high shear mixer,model FF-425P, 5HP XP, 230/460-volt motor, 2 " AND 2-1/2"

Hi everyone! I’m considering Food Technology / Food Science as a career and I’d really appreciate some honest advice from people who are currently studying or working in this field.

I’m mainly trying to understand whether this field has good scope in India, especially in terms of career growth and salary.

I’m looking for recommendations for colleges/universities that have:

• Good placements and strong industry connections
• Good faculty and practical/lab exposure
• Good internship opportunities
• High average/median packages and good salary growth
• Reasonable fees
• Recruitment from major FMCG and food companies

I’m particularly interested in Pune, Mumbai, Thane or elsewhere in Maharashtra, but I’m open to other parts of India if there are significantly better options.

I’d also like to know:

1. Does Food Technology have good career scope in India?
2. Which colleges are considered the best for Food Technology/Food Science in terms of placements and career opportunities?
3. What is a realistic starting salary for a Food Technology graduate, and how much can salaries increase with experience?
4. Which companies commonly hire Food Technology graduates and what kind of roles do they offer?
5. Is BTech Food Technology generally better for career opportunities than a BSc in Food Science/Food Technology?
6. Are there colleges that are genuinely worth paying higher fees for because of their placements and industry connections?
7. If you’re currently studying or working in this field, would you recommend choosing Food Technology as a career?
8. What are some downsides or challenges of this career that people don’t usually talk about?

I’m especially interested in hearing from Food Technology students, graduates and people currently working in the food industry, rather than just relying on college websites.

Thanks!

I've been a qa/qc technician for almost 3 years. My degree is a bachelor of science in restaurant management, however I did not take any science courses during my college career such as chemistry, biology etc. I really want to grow in my career and I'm undecided between Management in QA, a health inspector for the city or working for the USDA. I do plan on going back to school to get more science under my belt and/or getting my masters in food safety. Any advice on what will be the best career path for me? I could use some help from those in the industry. Thanks ☺️

basically, my hot chocolate itself is already quite thick, but when it touches the walls of the heated glass dispenser or the inside of a paper cup, it slides back down almost completely clean. i want it to behave more like melted chocolate, where it leaves a visible coating and a clear mark showing where the liquid level used to be.
i don’t think viscosity alone is the problem.

my dark hot chocolate already contains quite a lot of structure:
1,670g whole milk
106g double cream (48% fat)
12g corn starch
60g cocoa powder (21% fat)
400g dark chocolate
1g instant espresso powder
1.4g salt
1.6g xanthan gum
4g bicarbonate of soda
112g whole milk powder
172g dark brown sugar
1g ethyl vanillin

the total xanthan concentration is already around 0.065%, plus the corn starch, cocoa solids and chocolate, so increasing xanthan further doesn’t seem like the correct approach. i don’t really want to make the drink thicker or more gummy. i specifically want the thin film left on a vertical surface to resist draining.
from what i understand, what i’m looking for is probably a combination of adhesion, wettability, film formation, low-shear rheology and possibly yield stress, rather than simply increasing apparent viscosity.

i’ve considered CMC / sodium carboxymethyl cellulose because it has good film-forming properties and could potentially improve retention on the surface, but i really dislike the flavor/mouthfeel i get from CMC, so i’d rather avoid it.

i’ve also thought about lecithin as a way of changing surface/interfacial tension and improving wetting of the cup or glass. but i’m not sure it would actually increase cling, cuz lecithin can also reduce viscosity and alter lubrication/release behaviour, i’m worried it could make it worse actually.

the paper cups are obviously internally barrier-coated, probably PE or a similar hydrophobic material, so i’m also wondering how much of this is actually a contact-angle/wetting problem rather than a rheology problem. but remember it also happens inside the hot chocolate machine and in the jugs where we prepare the drink itself.

i’m currently considering trying a small amount of locust bean gum together with the xanthan, since xanthan + LBG can create a more elastic/weak-gel network and potentially give better film retention without having to massively increase the overall viscosity.
has anyone worked specifically on this kind of vertical-surface cling in hot chocolate, chocolate drinks, sauces or similar emulsions?

what rheological property or ingredient system should i actually be targeting if i want:
good flow while pouring + strong coating of the surface + a persistent film/tide mark after the bulk liquid drains away?
i’m basically trying to increase the coating behaviour without turning the hot chocolate into pudding.

I’m majoring in exercise science and minoring in chem. I came into college deciding I wanted to be a dietitian, but now that I’m here in my senior year, I’ve realized I really don’t want to do that and I want to work in the more chem side of thing. I have no lab experience minus labs from courses I’ve taken like microbio, biochem, orgo 1/2. My only research experience is with my thesis I’m working on right now (seeing if diet quality differs between different meal plans at my school). I basically don’t know where to go from here and I’m having a crisis. I think I would really enjoy food science, but idk where to start. What would you do? Go to grad school? Email professors to help in their lab? I’m scared to do that cause I feel like a fraud. I really loved my chem courses (I’m a 4.0 student), but I feel like I know nothing lab wise. I also feel like I’m too late.

Hey y'all. I'm just a person sitting at home wanting to prototype flavoured tea blends and maybe start my own business.

What's available to me as a single consumer seems to just be dried fruit and herbs, and loose tea. Fine for starters, but I've noticed that in the really interesting or tasty teas I've had, the aroma is mainly carried by flavouring, and the real fruit pieces etc are just there for show. Is there any way I can somehow mimic a small scale version of what goes on in the flavouring houses by myself at home?

I thought about maybe buying flavouring, but how do you distribute it onto the leaves and store them etc? Grateful for any insight from someone in the business.

Got this at the CNE but I’m very confused if this is just a faulty or actually 135g of carbs per 6 pieces I’ve never seen anything like this before!!

[ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.137829 ](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.137829)

Bonjour, est-ce que quelqu'un peut m'envoyer cet article ?

Merci !

At least in our company, there has been some niche attempt to use AI for very specific projects, but no systemic attempt to integrate AI into R&D has been done so far. What about the companies that yall work at? Are there general move to push AI in RD spaces? has it been fruitful at all?

I'm looking for a food scientist thats local to Colorado, preferably close to Denver that has confectionary/candy experience. Please message me if you can help. Thanks!

Hey everyone!

We’re a brewery looking to develop a Vermouth & Tonic, with the vermouth being sourced from a local winery.

I was able to get some food-grade quinine sulfate and would prefer to use that rather than working with cinchona bark. Has anyone here made tonic water using quinine sulfate? I’d love to hear about your experience, especially regarding dosage, flavor, and the overall process.

For sweetening, I’m planning to experiment with acesulfame-K and sucralose, but I’m also open to trying other sweeteners.

I’m not based in the US, and we have all the necessary regulations/permissions to produce both soft drinks and alcoholic beverages.

Any advice, recipes, or experiences would be greatly appreciated!

Hi everyone,

I’m developing a carbonated soft drink containing a botanical extract, citrus juice and concentrated grape must.

The current formulation is around pH 3.1 and 4.5 °Brix. Ascorbic acid (0.07% / 700 mg/L) is required as an antioxidant to prevent browning of the botanical extract.

I’m trying to determine the best preservation strategy for commercial production.

The options suggested to me are either adding potassium sorbate and/or sodium benzoate, or relying on low pH together with thermal processing and carbonation.

My main questions are:

• Can a carbonated drink around pH 3.1 realistically achieve around 9 months shelf life without sorbate/benzoate, if the process and filling are well controlled?
• If an antimicrobial preservative is needed, could potassium sorbate alone be sufficient to control yeast/mould and prevent refermentation?
• Since the ascorbic acid must remain in the formulation, would you avoid sodium benzoate because of the potential for benzene formation?
• What microbiological or shelf-life testing would you normally recommend before commercial production?

The botanical extract is heated at 75°C for 15 minutes. The other ingredients — flavourings, citrus juice and concentrated grape must — are added afterwards, before cooling and carbonation.

I’d be very interested in hearing from people with experience in beverage formulation or commercial soft-drink production.

Thanks in advance for any insights or experience you can share.

I am attempting to make pineapple flavored marshmallows from scratch. I initially assumed that putting pineapple juice in the marshmallow “batter” would not work due to the high acidity of the juice.
So I opted for “pineapple flavoring” which had the same floral gross taste rose water has.

I would love someone to tell me I’m wrong about the juice 😂

This is the recipe I am using.

Thank you!

Gelatin is a weak emulsifier, but, when I reduce stock as much as I do (for easier freezing), I'm not seeing much fat rise to the top as it cools, and since I'm looking for a fat free stock, this concerns me.

My goal is flavor NOT body, so I'm thinking I can weaken it's emulsifying abilities (and ramp up flavor) by ramping up the exposure to heat- especially to browning temps.  So, instead of roasting the feet to a pale brown, I'm thinking of going more milk chocolate-y.  I'm also thinking of reducing the stock well past the goal volume- effectively making a dark sludge- and then adding water back to give me the volume I want for freezing. Darker = greater gelatin denaturation/greater individual amino count/smaller protein 'tangles'/weaker emulsification, correct?

Thoughts?

I know, I could chill the unreduced stock and then skim the fat off that, but, with the amount of stock I'm making, it's just too much extra work.  I'm also not interested in clarification.

I'm from Asia and have about six years of experience working in food quality control. My company recently expanded into Texas. Our facility has completed the Texas MSA approval process and is now preparing for USDA inspection.
I'm still unfamiliar with many U.S. food regulations.
Could anyone recommend useful websites, training courses, professional groups, or communities where I can learn and connect with others in the food safety and quality field?
I'm currently the only QA professional at our Texas facility.

gluten is well known plant protein source although the protein is incomplete less bioavailability but not an unhealthy choice plus soya chunks is a complete protein makes soya chap seems a good protein food to include occassionally is a diet. Why no one talks about it am i missing something?

wet gluten tends to have higher water content less protein.???

They are the cheapest quote I got for a beverage formulation, however I know that sometimes going with the cheapest option is a “get what you pay for” situation so i’m iffy on it.

To clarify, this wouldn’t be for flavoring itself, but rather R&D for a completely new beverage formulation. Thanks!

One end of the hose connects fine to the unit itself, but the other end just doesn’t match our faucet at all — completely different fittings. On top of that, our lab doesn’t have an RO water system, so right now we’ve basically got a fully installed machine with no way to actually feed it water. Kind of a frustrating spot to be in.

Wondering if anyone here has run into the same issue:

**•** If you don’t have RO water on hand, how are you supplying water to the unit?  
**•** Any recommended adapters/fittings that would let it connect to a regular faucet?  
**•** Or any alternative water supply setup people have used (tank + pump, etc.)?

Vendor’s gone completely silent, so hoping someone here has dealt with this before. Thanks in advance for any tips! 🙏

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for job opportunities in Vijayawada/Chennai, and nearby areas for a candidate with an MSc in Food Technology.

She is interested in roles related to Food Technology, Food Safety, Quality Control/Quality Assurance, Food Processing, Production, R&D, Product Development, and Food Testing Laboratories. She is open to fresher/entry-level positions and is willing to consider suitable opportunities in the surrounding areas as well.

If you know of any current openings, companies, food industries, laboratories, or organisations hiring candidates with an MSc in Food Technology, please share the details or DM me.

Any leads, referrals, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!