Picky eating is a pattern of avoidance, not a missing skill
Picky eating is usually described as refusing or choosing certain foods, and it is common in young children [1][4]. The behavior is about what a person is willing to eat, not about whether they can detect flavors, measure ingredients, or understand food chemistry. A review of food aversions among picky eaters focuses on selective eating behaviors rather than on any deficit in food-related ability [1].
Disgust is one driver of this avoidance. In a study of picky and non-picky eaters, researchers looked at willingness to touch and taste familiar foods that had been changed in some way, framing the issue as disgust-based food rejection [3]. That is a reaction to specific foods or alterations, not a general incapacity to work with food.
Food science covers analysis and safety, not just adventurous eating
Food science as a field deals with the scientific study of food, and functional food science—an area focused on foods with added bioactive compounds that provide a clinically proven health benefit—is distinct from it [5]. Neither of these areas requires a person to personally enjoy every food. The work is about measurement, regulation, and evidence, not about having an adventurous palate [5].
The supplied evidence does not directly test picky eaters working in food science. What it does show is that picky eating is studied as a behavioral and sensory issue [1][3][4], while food science is studied as a technical and regulatory field [5]. Those are different questions, and nothing in the evidence connects selective eating to poor performance in food science.
Discomfort with unfamiliar foods can matter in tasting roles
One area where picky eating could be relevant is any job that requires tasting unfamiliar or novel foods. Research on entomophagy—eating insects—found that food neophobia (reluctance to try new foods) and disgust both reduce willingness to engage with insect consumption, and disgust was the stronger predictor in a five-country survey [2]. That study was about consumers, not food science professionals, but it shows that aversion can shape willingness to try new foods.
The same study found that people who had already eaten insects still showed a disgust effect of similar strength to non-eaters, while food neophobia was more strongly related to willingness among insect eaters [2]. This suggests that even people with some experience can carry lingering aversion. For a picky eater in a role that involves tasting novel ingredients, that could be a practical hurdle—though the evidence does not show it would be disqualifying.
The evidence does not measure picky eaters in food science jobs
None of the supplied papers follows picky eaters into food science education or employment. The picky-eating papers focus on children and on behavioral interventions such as extinction and negative punishment to reduce food refusal [4], or on disgust-based rejection in adults [3]. The food science papers focus on field definitions and regulation [5] or on consumer attitudes toward insects [2].
So the honest answer is that picky eating is not shown to be a barrier, but it is also not directly studied as a career question. A picky eater could plausibly work in food science, especially in roles that do not depend on enjoying a wide range of foods, but the supplied evidence cannot say how common that is or whether tasting-heavy roles would be harder.
Sources used in this answer
Picky Eaters: A Review of Their Food Aversions
Picky eating is characterized by food aversions and selective eating behaviors, especially in children, rather than by a lack of food-related ability.
Engaging in entomophagy: The role of food neophobia and disgust between insect and non-insect eaters
Food neophobia and disgust both reduce willingness to engage with insect eating, with disgust a stronger predictor, and food neophobia more strongly related to willingness among people who had already eaten insects.
Understanding disgust-based food rejection in picky and non-picky eaters: Willingness to touch and taste familiar foods with changes
Picky and non-picky eaters were compared on willingness to touch and taste familiar foods that had been changed, framing picky eating as disgust-based food rejection.
The Effectiveness of Extinction and Negative Punishment to Eliminate the Behavior of Rejecting or Choosing Certain Foods in Picky Eaters
Extinction and negative punishment interventions reduced food refusal and food selection behavior in children with persistent picky eating.
Functional food science: Differences and similarities with food science
Functional food science, which focuses on foods with clinically proven health benefits, is distinct from food science and faces different regulatory and educational challenges.