For thousands of years people salted, dried, smoked, pickled, and chilled their foods. Canned and frozen foods are a fairly recent development. Dried and freeze-dried foods are now common. Researchers over the years have found new and better ways to process, package, and preserve foods from the time of the harvest to the time they go on the table. The food processing industry is vital to the economy.
Food scientists hold an important place in their field.
Their efforts make more nutritious food available to the public, to developing countries, and to countries suffering from famine. Work Performed Food scientists use the laws of science and engineering to produce, process, evaluate, package, and distribute foods. The kind of work they do depends on the firm they work for and the products they work on. Food scientists may concentrate on basic research, product development, quality control, processing, packaging, labeling, technical sales, or market research. They may work in production or technical management.