Will “Laboratory Technician (Lab Technician)” be Replaced By Robots? 🤔

Job Description

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.

Job Details

• The SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) code is 19-1012.00
• The Mean Annual Wage in the U.S. is $ 71,270.00
• The Mean Hourly Wage is $ 34.00
• Currently, there are 14,200 people on this job

☝️ Information based on the reference occupation “Food Scientists and Technologists”.

Also Known As…

• Food Scientists and Technologists
• Research Scientist
• Research and Development Manager (R & D Manager)
• Research and Development Director (R & D Director)
• Quality Assurance Manager (QA Manager)
• Professor
• Product Development Scientist
• Product Development Manager
• Food Technologist
• Food Scientist
• Food Science Professor
• Value Analysis Coordinator
• Technical Director
• Swine Nutritionist
• Seafood Technology Specialist
• Research Food Technologist
• Research Chef
• Quality Control Scientist (QC Scientist)
• Quality Control Inspector (QC Inspector)
• Quality Assurance Director (QA Director)
• Professor of Food Biochemistry
• Process Engineer
• Microbiologist
• Laboratory Manager (Lab Manager)
• Hybrid Technologist
• Hybrid Corn Breeder
• Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Coordinator (HACCP Coordinator)
• Food Safety Scientist
• Food Safety Director
• Food Processing Scientist
• Food Preservation Scientist
• Food Chemist
• Food and Drug Research Scientist
• Enologist
• Dairy Bacteriologist
• Confectionery Laboratory Manager
• Compliance Coordinator
• Associate Professor

Tasks for “Laboratory Technician (Lab Technician)”

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

Related Technology & Tools

• Fruit presses
• Epifluorescence microscopes
• Dejuicers
• Carbon dioxide CO2 laboratory incubators
• Grills
• Differential refractometers
• Electronic laboratory balances
• Laboratory water baths
• Roasting equipment
• Retort sterilization equipment
• Emulsifiers
• Strain testers
• Rheometers
• Viscometers
• Food crushers
• Gel electrophoresis equipment
• Stomachers
• Macro kjeldahls
• Analytical balances
• Piston filling machines
• Microcentrifuges
• Thermal processing equipment
• Water activity meters
• Microbial monitoring systems
• pH indicators
• Desktop computers
• High pressure liquid chromatograph HPLC equipment
• Melting point apparatus
• Blast freezers
• Food choppers
• Griddles
• Plate heat exchangers
• Conductivity meters
• Extractors
• Amino acid analyzers
• Fourier transform infrared FTIR spectrometers
• Dynamic mechanical analyzers DMA
• Thermal cyclers
• Membrane filtration systems
• Meat saws
• Ion chromatographs
• Micro kjeldahls
• Anaerobic growth chambers
• Homogenizers
• Thermal gravimetric analyzers
• Programmable incubators
• High speed refrigerated centrifuges
• Infrared IR spectrometers
• Induction cooktops
• Benchtop nephelometers
• X ray crystallography equipment
• Automatic diluters
• Food dehydrators
• Laboratory mechanical convection ovens
• Laboratory mills
• Gas chromatographs GC
• Computerized calorimeters
• Fermenting tanks
• Jet cooking systems
• Muffle furnaces
• Heat exchangers
• Fraction collectors
• Tubular heat exchangers
• Torsion gelometers
• Air sampling systems
• Freeze drying equipment
• Drum dryers
• Vacuum packagers
• Dynamic light scattering equipment
• Laser colony counters
• Steam kettles
• Pulper finishers
• Food mixers
• Darkfield microscopes
• Autosamplers
• Meat grinders
• Batch fryers
• Amylographs
• Oxygen analyzers
• Laboratory lasers
• Ranges
• Glucose analyzers
• Bioreactors
• Mass spectrometers
• Refrigerated benchtop centrifuges
• Spectrofluorimeters
• Laboratory ovens
• Bacterial identification systems
• Steam blanchers
• Rotary evaporators
• Color difference meters
• Ultraviolet UV spectrometers
• Atomic absorption AA spectrometers
• Biological safety cabinets
• Scanning plate readers
• Specific gravity fat analyzers
• Dehydration equipment
• Digital oscilloscopes
• Pulsifiers
• Spiral platers
• Ice cream freezers
• Laptop computers
• Stuffers
• Orbital shaking water baths
• Steam autoclaves
• Reflectance spectrometers
• Commercial microwave ovens
• Personal computers
• Nitrogen analyzers
• Scanning electron microscopes SEM
• Phase contrast microscopes
• Coulter counters
• Colorimeters
• Food slicers

• Microsoft Office
• U.S. Department of Agriculture USDA National Nutrient Database
• Image analysis software
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• MDS Analytical Technologies GenePix Pro
• Insightful S-PLUS
• SAP
• Microsoft Word
• BioDiscovery ImaGene
• PathogenTracker
• Sensory Computer Systems SIMS
• STATISTICA
• Microsoft Excel