Also called: Process Authority, Thermal Process Specialist
Is the expert, required by federal rules, who sets the exact time and temperature canned foods must be cooked to kill deadly botulism bacteria.
A company wants to sell a new canned chili, so you put temperature probes inside test cans and run them through a retort cooker. You calculate the cook time that kills botulism spores with a safety margin. Your signed process gets filed with the FDA before any can is sold.
Estimated from food engineering and consulting postings.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Master's degree, about 6 years after high school. Master's or PhD in food science or food engineering is common.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $60k – $150k.
Majors to look at: Food Science, Food Engineering, Microbiology.
Growing about average. Few experts; every canned or shelf-stable food needs a filed process.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. Software helps calculate heat treatments, but tests and legal sign-off stay with human experts.
Classes: AP Chemistry, Biology, AP Calculus.
Official data: O*NET occupation 19-1012.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.