The World Health Organization estimates nearly one in ten people becomes sick from food each year, and a total of 420,000 of those die from the illness. The novel coronavirus’ possible origin in a seafood market and its many variants have also drawn attention to how new and rapidly mutating microbes can wreak havoc on public health. In addition to protecting consumers’ health and confirming nutritional content throughout the production process, laboratory testing of food is required to ensure food authenticity. According to the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA), food fraud costs the global food industry as much as $40 billion each year.
TDA’s new Food & Environmental Analytical Market Report, released in March, explores the market trajectory and technologies used for testing food. Chromatography comprises about a quarter of market demand, and analytical HPLC is a leading method for identifying and quantifying ingredients, contaminants, and other food analytes. GC-MS is widely used to detect toxins such as BPA and acrylamide, or ethyl carbamate in fermented foods and beverages. Life sciences technologies like PCR and DNA sequencers, have been adopted by the food safety industry to detect pathogenic contamination and for the presence of GMOs. And mass spec, which is widely used to identify adulterants in food, is expected to show the fastest-growing demand into 2027.
TDA estimates the total analytical market for food testing in 2022 was valued $4.0 billion (up from $3.8 billion in 2021), and the overall market is expected to grow by mid-single digit compound annual growth rates (CAGR) between 2022 and 2027. Several factors will affect demand for food testing technologies, including a growing awareness of food safety issues among the public. The rapid expansion of cannabis legalization in US states (11 states have legalized recreational cannabis since 2020) will also play a role, as testing is needed to establish potency and ensure safety throughout the production workflow. And government food safety regulations and oversight will continue to drive demand throughout the remainder of the decade. As the home of many food and beverage companies and testing labs, the North American segment leads this demand, followed by the Asia Pacific market.
Although the compliance dates for most of the rules instated by in the US FDA’s landmark Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 have already passed, the agency has recently embarked upon a new suite of initiatives dubbed a “New Era of Smarter Food Safety,” which aims to modernize and technologically integrate food safety testing and tracing. Food safety regulations in China are managed under the Food Safety Law, which was implemented in 2009 after a crisis of melamine contamination of milk and infant formula. The law was most recently updated in 2021 when several regulations or standards were added or revised. Also in 2021, China received a $400 million loan from the World Bank to strengthen food safety law enforcement, upgrade testing laboratories, and train laboratory technicians along produce, pork, and seafood production chains. These factors will help China be the fastest-growing regional end market for food testing. Click here to order TDA’s new Food & Environmental Analytical Market Report.