Food safety testing to grow to $5.6bn by 2018 in North America

The North American food safety testing market is projected to grow from $3.7bn in 2012 to $5.6bn by 2018, according to MarketsandMarkets

US dominated the food safety testing market last year largely due to the implementation of food safety regulations such as zero tolerance policy for listeria contamination, said the research firm.  

Testing of food material during every stage of food production and processing has driven the market, which is expected to increase at a CAGR of 7.3% by 2018.

Contamination of food can occur due to exposure to contaminated water or equipment or raw materials, improper handling and inefficient treatment.

Pathogen testing domination

In 2012, pathogen testing dominated the food safety testing market in which salmonella testing accounted for the major share.

Increasing food contamination and outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) poisoning is expected to increase E. coli testing in market.

Regulatory bodies in North America have been strictly supervising the implementation of HACCP systems by food manufacturers.

There is also concern among consumers has also been increasing due to the media influence, according to the report which analyses just the North American market.

Quicker detection = more demand

In North America, rapid technology market for contaminant testing has been increasing as they are less time consuming.

With the opportunity in the market, the existing laboratories are experiencing a significant boom in the industry and growth in the market is anticipated to come from US and Canada.

Market growth has also been attributed to new product/services launch for food safety testing.

Safety testing of meat and poultry, dairy, processed foods, fruits and vegetables and cereals are covered in the analysis.

It features traditional and rapid testing methods, convenience-based, PCR-based, Immunoassay-based and other rapid technologies.

Accugen, Aegis Food Testing, Bio-Rad, Det Norske Veritas As (DNV), Eurofins Central Analytical Laboratories, Intertek, Lloyd’s Register Quality Romer Labs and SGS are featured in the report.