1999 IFT Membership Employment & Salary Survey

Members of the Institute of Food Technologists earned a median salary of $65,000 in late 1999, $5,000 higher than in 1997, an 8.3% increase. Median salaries increased for all degree levels—BS, MS, PhD, and MBA—but women still generally make less than men.

These are some of the findings from the most recent IFT Membership Employment & Salary Survey, which is conducted every two years under the sponsorship of the IFT Employment Committee.

The 24-question survey was mailed to Members and Professional Members of IFT in the United States in November 1999. The questionnaire was completely anonymous and confidential, and all returns were tabulated by Data Lab Corp, Niles, Ill. By the cutoff date in December, 4,950 responses from 19,348 delivered questionnaires had been received, for a 26% return.

This article reports the results in three sections—IFT membership demographics, employment data, and salary data. The demographics and employment data are almost exactly the same as they have been for the previous three surveys. The median salaries have increased, as would be expected.

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Salary Data
All questionnaires for respondents claiming a salary of less than $10,000 or more than $200,000 were visually inspected to make sure the answers were penciled in correctly. Then full-time salaries below $10,000 and salaries of $300,000 or more for persons with less than 6 years of professional food-related experience were eliminated from the tabulations, since they appear to be unrealistic. Only salary data for full-time employees and for 10 or more respondents are presented here. The data are presented in terms of the median salary, meaning that half of the respondents make more than that amount and half make less.

All questionnaires for respondents claiming a salary of less than $10,000 or more than $200,000 were visually inspected to make sure the answers were penciled in correctly. Then full-time salaries below $10,000 and salaries of $300,000 or more for persons with less than 6 years of professional food-related experience were eliminated from the tabulations, since they appear to be unrealistic. Only salary data for full-time employees and for 10 or more respondents are presented here. The data are presented in terms of the median salary, meaning that half of the respondents make more than that amount and half make less.

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Members of the IFT Employment Committee, 1998–99 and 1999–2000

Members of the IFT Employment Committee, 1998–99 and 1999–2000
Aaron K. Edwards 1999-2000 Chair National Starch and Chemical Co.

Craig Medlyn 1998–99 Chair McCormick & Co., Inc.

Ron J. Bynum 1998-99 Past Chair Rightsource, Inc.

Kurt E. Deibel Tropicana North America

Joyce Engels Corn Products International

Aaron K. Edwards National Starch and Chemical Co.

Bernadine B. Ferguson Culinary Creations

John F. Fuller Jr. H.J. Heinz Co. of Canada Ltd.

Robert J. Lipnik PTX Food Corp.

Therese M. Work Kellogg Co.

A. Courtney Hopper 1999-2000 Student Representative Ohio State University

Jonathan Licker 1998-99 Student Representative Cornell University

Nora Schabold IFT Staff Liaison

Neil H. Mermelstein IFT Staff

This report is also available on the Internet at IFT’s Web site(www.ift.org), under “Employment.”

by NEIL H. MERMELSTEIN
Senior Editor