Britney Geter's MSU master's degree has allowed her career in toxicology to pop

Britney Geter has likely heard all the jokes and puns about her foray through jobs at three of the major soft drink companies in the country.

Over the last six years, Geter has worked for Keurig Dr Pepper, The Coca-Cola Company, and currently, PepsiCo, where she serves as a Principal Scientist on the Global Scientific Affairs Team, supporting research and development and evaluating the safety of food products for the Frito-Lay and Quaker brands.

Her journey through those companies, while a nice conversation piece, is strictly a coincidence, she says.

“People are always surprised that I’ve worked for all three,” she said. “But they’re all fantastic products.”

For Geter, these opportunities became a possibility in part due to the online master’s degree in Pharmacology and Toxicology she earned from Michigan State in 2016.

Intrigued by toxicology as an undergraduate at the University of Cincinnati, where she majored in biology, a master’s degree seemed like the next logical choice, and MSU provided her with what she was seeking.

“I looked at several programs, but Michigan State stood out,” she said. “I felt it was rigorous, and it would be a good program to be a part of and help me in my career. I also had co-workers who went through their master’s program, and they had good things to say about it.”

And while the degree allowed her to expand her knowledge of toxicology, it did something else that surprised her.

“I became even more interested in toxicology after that,” Geter said. “It really sparked even more interest and curiosity in toxicology. I definitely became more interested in toxicology, and the role toxicologists play in the food industry.”

She developed that interest in the field first in college and then during an internship at Proctor & Gamble.

“That’s when I discovered I wanted to go into toxicology,” Geter said. “So much work was going on behind the scenes to ensure the safety of products that people used every day. I wasn’t really aware of the toxicology involved, especially as it applies to consumer goods. In school, there was a lot of focus on toxicology in pharmaceuticals, but not necessarily on consumer products.”

Once she enrolled in the MSU program, she continued to work as a regulatory specialist at Givaudan and Archer Daniels Midland, both of which are multinational flavor and food processing companies.

Since graduation, she has been able to transition into roles that focus more on the toxicology and risk assessment aspects of regulatory and scientific affairs.

“I focus on toxicological considerations for the production of food ingredients and finished food products,” said Geter, who also worked as North American Food Regulatory & Scientific Affairs Lead at Cargill, another multinational food service industry. “New, novel ingredients, working within different pathways and also looking at the safety of packaging materials.”

She also studies an array of food topics from the approval of new ingredients to allergens to new color additives and examining the chemical hazards of food.

At PepsiCo, she is involved in different types of beverage and food categories including potato chips, oatmeal, snacks, water products and, yes, soft drinks. She is also the food allergen subject matter expert on the Scientific Affairs team.

Her interest in toxicology developed as an undergraduate and was further sharpened during her years at MSU. Now, she is on the path she wants to continue – especially at her current stop.

“I definitely see myself at PepsiCo for a while,” she said. “It’s a place I can continue to grow and develop. I’ve continued to grow in my job, and I have more responsibility.”

And as for her decision to get a master’s degree from MSU?

“It was a great decision,” she said. “And for anyone who’s interested, it was an awesome program.”