Food chemist vs quality assurance chemist

The differences between food chemists and quality assurance chemists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a food chemist has an average salary of $62,727, which is higher than the $59,242 average annual salary of a quality assurance chemist.

The top three skills for a food chemist include laboratory equipment, FDA and sops. The most important skills for a quality assurance chemist are lab equipment, R, and HPLC.

Food chemist vs quality assurance chemist overview

	Food Chemist	Quality Assurance Chemist
Yearly salary	$62,727	$59,242
Hourly rate	$30.16	$28.48
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	61,028	66,457
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 79%	Bachelor's Degree, 83%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	-	-

Food chemist vs quality assurance chemist salary

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

	Food Chemist	Quality Assurance Chemist
Average salary	$62,727	$59,242
Salary range	Between $44,000 And $87,000	Between $42,000 And $82,000
Highest paying City	Vancouver, WA	East Windsor, NJ
Highest paying state	Delaware	Virginia
Best paying company	Cargill	Clariant
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between food chemist and quality assurance chemist education

There are a few differences between a food chemist and a quality assurance chemist in terms of educational background:

	Food Chemist	Quality Assurance Chemist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 79%	Bachelor's Degree, 83%
Most common major	Chemistry	Chemistry
Most common college	University of Southern California	University of Southern California

Food chemist vs quality assurance chemist demographics

Here are the differences between food chemists' and quality assurance chemists' demographics:

	Food Chemist	Quality Assurance Chemist
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 57.3% Female, 42.7%	Male, 60.1% Female, 39.9%
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, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 18.2% White, 59.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between food chemist and quality assurance 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.

Quality assurance chemist example responsibilities.

Plan, manage, and maintain laboratory's SPC and TQM programs.
Assist FDA and ISO audits as required.
Operate, programme and troubleshot four HPLC instruments as well as two GC instruments.
Analyze liquid and solid generic pharmaceutical products for quality assurance using HPLC and GC methods.
Operate multi-samplers, high-performance liquid chromatography units and titration units.
Generate in excel and LIMS final reports for clients.

Food chemist vs quality assurance chemist skills

Common food chemist skills

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

Common quality assurance chemist skills

Lab Equipment, 15%
R, 5%
HPLC, 5%
Analytical Methods, 4%
ISO, 4%
Test Results, 4%

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Food Chemist vs Quality Assurance Chemist

Updated January 8, 2025

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