Food chemist vs analytical research chemist

The differences between food chemists and analytical research chemists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an analytical research chemist has an average salary of $81,763, which is higher than the $62,727 average annual salary of a food chemist.

The top three skills for a food chemist include laboratory equipment, FDA and sops. The most important skills for an analytical research chemist are liquid chromatography, R, and HPLC.

Food chemist vs analytical research chemist overview

	Food Chemist	Analytical Research Chemist
Yearly salary	$62,727	$81,763
Hourly rate	$30.16	$39.31
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	61,028	62,289
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 79%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	-	-

Food chemist vs analytical research chemist salary

Food chemists and analytical research chemists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Food Chemist	Analytical Research Chemist
Average salary	$62,727	$81,763
Salary range	Between $44,000 And $87,000	Between $54,000 And $123,000
Highest paying City	Vancouver, WA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Delaware	Washington
Best paying company	Cargill	Meta
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between food chemist and analytical research chemist education

There are a few differences between a food chemist and an analytical research chemist in terms of educational background:

	Food Chemist	Analytical Research Chemist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 79%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common major	Chemistry	Chemistry
Most common college	University of Southern California	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Food chemist vs analytical research chemist demographics

Here are the differences between food chemists' and analytical research chemists' demographics:

	Food Chemist	Analytical Research Chemist
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 57.3% Female, 42.7%	Male, 58.3% Female, 41.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.8% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 18.2% White, 59.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 7.4% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 9.2% Asian, 22.9% White, 55.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between food chemist and analytical research chemist duties and responsibilities

Food chemist example responsibilities.

Manage food chemistry testing laboratory and measure clenbuterol levels in beef samples by HPLC
Position are focused around ensuring that the different products being test pass the specifications put in place by the FDA.
Provide calculated electronic absorption (UV/Vis) spectra for molecular candidates suspect to be impurity chromophores in a commercial nylon process.
Establish extraction profiles and develop appropriate QC methods for product certification and annual qualification.

Analytical research chemist example responsibilities.

Manage an elemental analytical laboratory that include operating, maintaining and troubleshooting an ICP-OES, ICPMS, MXRF, and IC.
Maintain laboratory instrumentation (HPLC).
Gain experience of working in GLP environment.
Perform hands-on HPLC methods, cleaning validations, and finish product testing
Maintain equipment logbooks for laboratory instruments toward compliance of cGMP and GLP.
Develop numerous LC and GC analytical methods for drug product components and formulations.

Food chemist vs analytical research chemist skills

Common food chemist skills

Laboratory Equipment, 18%
FDA, 17%
Sops, 13%
R, 9%
HPLC, 9%
Food Products, 8%

Common analytical research chemist skills

Liquid Chromatography, 12%
R, 9%
HPLC, 7%
GC, 5%
Ms, 5%
Analytical Techniques, 4%

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Food Chemist vs Analytical Research Chemist

Updated January 8, 2025

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