Food chemist vs organic chemist

The differences between food chemists and organic chemists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an organic chemist has an average salary of $76,894, 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 organic chemist are NMR, method development, and HPLC.

Food chemist vs organic chemist overview

	Food Chemist	Organic Chemist
Yearly salary	$62,727	$76,894
Hourly rate	$30.16	$36.97
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	61,028	2,680
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 79%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	-	-

Food chemist vs organic chemist salary

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

	Food Chemist	Organic Chemist
Average salary	$62,727	$76,894
Salary range	Between $44,000 And $87,000	Between $50,000 And $116,000
Highest paying City	Vancouver, WA	Newark, DE
Highest paying state	Delaware	Delaware
Best paying company	Cargill	Entegris
Best paying industry	-	Pharmaceutical

Differences between food chemist and organic chemist education

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

	Food Chemist	Organic Chemist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 79%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common major	Chemistry	Chemistry
Most common college	University of Southern California	University of Southern California

Food chemist vs organic chemist demographics

Here are the differences between food chemists' and organic chemists' demographics:

	Food Chemist	Organic Chemist
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 57.3% Female, 42.7%	Male, 65.7% Female, 34.3%
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, 7.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 19.0% White, 58.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between food chemist and organic 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.

Organic chemist example responsibilities.

Achieve and maintain ISO 9001-2000 certification by creating and implementing policies and serving as management representative.
Ensure compounds are of the highest possible purity using LCMS, NMR spectroscopy, GC, and HPLC.
Perform organic analysis for semi-volatile and acid-base-neutrals using GCMS, HPLC, GCFID, GCNPD, GCECD and IR.
Perform GC analyses for gas, diesel, BTEX and PCB analyses in Washington and remote sites of Alaska.
Facilitate routine analyses in organic analytic chemistry - distillation, extraction, separation, crystallization, and purification.
Utilize 1H-NMR , 13C-NMR, GC/MS, HPLC, MALDI-TOF, ChemDraw, and ChemWindow.

Food chemist vs organic chemist skills

Common food chemist skills

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

Common organic chemist skills

NMR, 8%
Method Development, 8%
HPLC, 7%
Organic Synthesis, 7%
Laboratory Equipment, 6%
Sample Preparation, 5%

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Food Chemist vs Organic Chemist

Updated January 8, 2025

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