Can Agents Work?

Jobs / Science and research / 19-1012.00

Food Scientists and Technologists

Use chemistry, microbiology, engineering, and other sciences to study the principles underlying the processing and deterioration of foods; analyze food content to determine levels of vitamins, fat, sugar, and protein; discover new food sources; research ways to make processed foods safe, palatable, and healthful; and apply food science knowledge to determine best ways to process, package, preserve, store, and distribute food.

US jobs
13,060
Median wage
$88,720 a year
Job family
Science and research

Can agents do the work of food scientists and technologists?

We read the evidence for the whole job family, Science and research: Some tasks (no change in 12 months)

Agents complete 20% or more of the tasks (or projects) on a direct benchmark.

Evidence: CORE-Bench, declared solved.

0% of this occupation's work, by O*NET work activities, is measured by a direct benchmark.

  • 30%Research technology designs or applicationsNot measured
  • 9%Inspect facilities or equipmentNot measured
  • 8%Evaluate production inputs or outputsNot measured
  • 8%Develop operational or technical procedures or standardsNot measured
  • 8%Maintain current knowledge in area of expertiseNot measured
  • 8%Coordinate with others to resolve problemsNot measured
  • 8%Test characteristics of materials or productsNot measured
  • 7%Evaluate the characteristics, usefulness, or performance of products or technologiesNot measured

Benchmarks for the job family

These cover work in science and research, not always this occupation's tasks.

Direct evidence

Work benchmarks mapped primary to this family. They set the step when they report how many tasks agents complete.

  • CORE-Benchby Princeton UniversityTask level · CORE-Bench-Hard accuracy (public test set)
    95.5%Claude Code + Claude Opus 4.5 (after manual regrading) · 3 Dec 2025
    Solved

Also relevant

These benchmarks cover part of this family's work, or have no result yet. They do not set its step.

Typical tasks

From O*NET 31.0. Core tasks first. Few of these tasks have a benchmark today.

  • Inspect food processing areas to ensure compliance with government regulations and standards for sanitation, safety, quality, and waste management.
  • Check raw ingredients for maturity or stability for processing, and finished products for safety, quality, and nutritional value.
  • Study methods to improve aspects of foods, such as chemical composition, flavor, color, texture, nutritional value, and convenience.
  • Develop food standards and production specifications, safety and sanitary regulations, and waste management and water supply specifications.
  • Stay up to date on new regulations and current events regarding food science by reviewing scientific literature.
  • Study the structure and composition of food or the changes foods undergo in storage and processing.
  • Confer with process engineers, plant operators, flavor experts, and packaging and marketing specialists to resolve problems in product development.
  • Test new products for flavor, texture, color, nutritional content, and adherence to government and industry standards.
  • Develop new food items for production, based on consumer feedback.
  • Develop new or improved ways of preserving, processing, packaging, storing, and delivering foods, using knowledge of chemistry, microbiology, and other sciences.
  • Evaluate food processing and storage operations and assist in the development of quality assurance programs for such operations.
  • Demonstrate products to clients.
Other job titles for this occupation (29)

Corporate Food Scientist · Food and Drug Research Scientist · Food Engineer · Food Safety Regulatory Manager · Food Scientist · Food Technologist · Formulator · Product Development Scientist · Research Chef · Research Scientist · Applications Scientist · Crop Advisor · Dairy Bacteriologist · Enologist · Fermentation Scientist · Flavorist · Food Preservation Scientist · Food Processing Scientist · Food Safety Auditor · Food Safety Scientist · Hybrid Corn Breeder · Hybrid Technologist · Postdoctoral Research Associate (Postdoc Research Associate) · Product Development Specialist · QC Scientist (Quality Control Scientist) · Quality Food Expert · Scientist · Swine Nutritionist · Swine Technician (Swine Tech)