My Job...

When I say I majored in food science in college I usually get several typical responses. People ask me if its the same thing as dietetics (no), some people think I got a degree in cooking (no), and others think I'm trying to say I majored in nutrition in a fancy way.

Food science uses disciplines such as chemistry, microbiology, and engineering to study the nature of food, the development of food products, the preservation and storage of food, and the assurance of food safety and quality. Most food scientists work in product development, quality assurance, sensory evaulation, or technical consulting positions. If you think about it every product you buy at the grocery store had to be developed, packaged, and produced by someone.

I orginally decided to major in food science because it was a major that encompassed all the chemistry, physics, and microbiology prerequistes I needed for pharmacy school. But it turned out to the perfect major for me! I love cooking and I love science - so food science is my too loves of learning combined.

I don't think I ever posted about what I actually do at my job, so I thought I would since its what I do everyday. I work for company called NatureGen as well as its sister company Neuliven Health. I've worked here for about a year now and have 2 main jobs - managing the operations and developing products.

NatureGen is a company that supplies raw ingrediends (like chondroitin sulfate, glucosamine, green tea, stevia, etc.) to dietary supplement manufacturers. My job managing the operations is to make sure our products, which we buy from China, make it across the ocean, through customs, and to our customers. It sounds simple but really most of this part of my job feels like I'm constantly detangling some huge logistical nightmare. Customs clearance is crazy and there are always weird things happening like shipments arriving damaged and nobody taking the blame. My job is basically sorting out all this stuff and making sure our customers get the material on time. It can be stressful and crazy but sometimes fulfilling because its like solving a huge puzzle.

Neuliven Health is a company that develops and sells dietary supplements. I get to work on developing the products and am the only food scientist on staff. I currently get to play with developing candy and gummies in the lab. Its also fun because we are currently looking for a candy factory to manufacturer our supplemented gummy and I get to search out and tour all the candy factorys. Its exciting and I like feeling like a "real" food scientist.

Anyway thats what I do at work if you were wondering...

But in a few months I'll have the best job of all ;)