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Flavor Scientist (Flavorist)
Creates artificial and natural flavors for food and beverages — a blend of chemistry and art.
Did you know?
Becoming a certified flavorist in the US takes a 7-year apprenticeship, and only about 400 certified and apprentice flavorists work there.
How subjects help
- Chemistry: Mix flavour molecules to recreate the taste of strawberry, vanilla or mint.
- Biology: Understand how taste buds and your sense of smell work together to create flavour.
- Food Science: Make sure a flavour survives baking, freezing and months on a shop shelf.
- Psychology: Run taste tests to learn which flavours people prefer and why they like them.
A famous name
Kikunae Ikeda: Japanese chemist who discovered the umami taste in 1908 and turned it into the seasoning MSG.
Try it yourself: Sort kitchen smells into families
- Smell each one gently by wafting the air towards your nose. Never sniff cleaning products or unknown bottles.
- Describe each smell in three words.
- Sort them into families: fresh (citrus), green (herbs), warm (spices), sweet.
- Which two would smell nice together, and which would clash?
Perfumers learn to recognise and describe hundreds of scents, then combine them like notes in music.
Also try: Run a fair test with sugar.
Known for it in
USA, Switzerland, Germany, Japan, France