Food Pathogen Testing Market

Global Food Pathogen Testing Market Report, 2023 - 2028

The food pathogen testing market is predicted to reach a value of US$ 15.1 billion in 2023. Further, the food pathogen testing market is predicted to be worth US$ 22.7 billion by 2028. The overall market valuation is estimated to secure a CAGR of 8.4% during the forecast period.

Food pathogen testing has been witnessing an increasing trend on a global level due to the rising incidences of foodborne disease outbreaks, globalization of food trade, consumer awareness, implementation of food safety regulations, and advancement in modern testing technology. The market in North America has been growing consistently due to many foodborne disease outbreaks in the region, owing to salmonella and campylobacter occurrence. The market has been witnessing dynamic growth due to increasing concerns about food contamination, spoilage, and foodborne illnesses. The market has been experiencing growth driven by increasing consumer awareness of food safety and media influence related to food safety issues.

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Food Pathogen Testing Market Dynamics:

Drivers: Cross-contamination of food products due to complex processes

The unintentional transmission of microorganisms, chemical pollutants (including allergies), or any foreign substance from food, people, or objects to another food product is known as cross-contamination of food. It generally occurs between products that contain allergens and allergen-free products or between raw foods and ready-to-eat (RTE) foods. Cross-contamination can result in food poisoning when harmful bacteria are transmitted to RTE products that do not go through additional processing to remove bacteria. Cross-contamination can occur at any point in the food supply chain. It begins with poorly handling raw food, which typically has a high bacteria count. Then, by skipping food hygiene practices like handwashing in between touching raw food, equipment, cooked products, or from a different food worker, these harmful microorganisms are transferred from one person, object, or place to another. In the production area, contaminants can also come from the water, air, unclean equipment, clothing, soil, workers, and food contact surfaces.

There have been several outbreaks of foodborne illnesses over the years. Most of them are reportedly brought on by improper food handling. Cross-contamination is one of the biggest factors related to foodborne illnesses. Foodborne disease is a major international health issue that is caused by the transfer of harmful bacteria through cross-contamination. The World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that six hundred million people worldwide are affected by foodborne diseases every year. Further, a rise in trade globalization has led to an increased risk of food cross-contamination in inter-country trade and exports.

A notable outbreak caused by Salmonella in 2016 is the Multistate Outbreak of Salmonella Poona linked to cucumbers. At least 720 people were impacted by this outbreak, and 204 of them were hospitalized. According to reports from the FDA, the bacterium was spread by contact between the cucumbers and the shipping crates. Salmonella was also the culprit for an incident in China linked to an outbreak related to egg fried rice. At least 220 people became ill in January 2022 with diarrhea, fever, stomach pain, nausea, and vomiting. Authorities explained that the outbreak was caused by the cooked egg fried rice being placed in previously used basins that contained residual egg fluids.

Restraints of the Food Pathogen Testing Market: Complexity in testing techniques

Existing technologies for food safety testing involve various difficulties in providing valid test results. The difficulties involved are in terms of the demerits of technologies failing to provide relevant results and shortcomings of Technology with regard to analyzing complex products such as processed food, among others. A poorly designed food safety testing technique may yield false-negative results, releasing finished goods that may be contaminated. As a result, food safety tests need to be standardized and have a specific set of characteristics for the application to be considered effective.

The use of chemical and microbiological testing in food safety testing also presents a number of challenges. For instance, in the field of chemical testing, it has been found that some environmental toxins that enter the food chain, such as dioxin and PCBs, are harmful at levels as low as one part per trillion (ppt), which is comparable to looking for a needle in a haystack. The existing methods for the detection of these compounds are labor-intensive and expensive due to the sensitivity required to detect such minute levels.

Opportunities in the Food Pathogen Testing Market: Technological advancements in the testing industry

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on the field of food safety testing technology because it has stressed out many workforces. As a result, businesses have had staffing issues, particularly in areas requiring specialized knowledge and training, such as lab technicians. The techniques needed to assure food safety increasingly depend heavily on accuracy and efficiency. Nucleic acids can be found using a variety of methods, including PCR, qPCR, RT-PCR, LAMP, and others, most notably ELISA, ELFA, and lateral flow, for antibody-based detection. When it comes to identifying strains, food safety technology uses sequencing and NGS. Traditional serotyping, MLST, PFGE, DNA arrays, and bead-based arrays are further technological tools.

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Foodborne illness is a major concern around the world that affects thousands of people each year. The Typhimurium variant has been responsible for about a quarter of Salmonella outbreaks since the 1960s. Researchers trained a machine-learning algorithm on more than 1,300 Typhimurium genomes with known origins. Finally, the algorithm was able to identify the origin of foodborne illness by correctly predicting which animal sources—primarily poultry and swine—would have the Typhimurium genome. AI is also used to reduce food waste. Researchers in Singapore have developed a meat-freshness "nose" powered by AI. It operates by responding to the gases released as the meat starts to spoil. As food can be tested to determine whether it is safe to consume regardless of the "best before" date, this could help reduce food waste.

Challenges in the Food Pathogen Testing Market: Lack of harmonization of food safety standards

There are different meanings of the term "standard." It could refer to a set of requirements that apply to a particular food, such as the identification standards in the US and quality standards in the EU. It could refer to any legal requirements outlined in Codex Alimentarius. These private food safety standards are largely concerned with the criteria for food safety processes, like Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP). One more private standard similar to the auditing schemes (e.g., BRC, IFS, SQF) is ISO 22000 (in connection with FSSC 22000). ISO is mainly used by food producers, whereas the others are typically used by retailers.

A significant barrier to harmonizing food safety regulations is represented by the inefficient communication and collaboration between scientists and lawmakers, and vice versa, without an established, transparent method between the two entities. It is crucial to underline the necessity of incorporating generally agreed [upon] science facts into the legislation as they emerge to keep food regulations updated with scientific advancements, discoveries, and changes. The lack of standardized legal terms is another factor that is delaying the possibility of having worldwide unified food safety standards. It is critical to comprehend that terms can have varied meanings and applications across different countries and languages. Such misunderstandings might create barriers in the food trade; despite the fact that the actions taken are the same, they are only presented in a different way, which is the major challenge in the food pathogen testing market.

The growing number of national standards for food safety management has led to ambiguity. There is a need to harmonize these food safety standards. Leading industries in the food sector have increasingly recognized the cost and inefficiencies created by developing multiple food safety standards. Audits are conducted to ensure compliance with government regulatory legislation. Neither ingredient suppliers nor retailers, nor food service companies are well served when duplicative standards and audits raise total costs for food certification without enhancing or ensuring the overall safety of food. Industrial experts have often suggested uniform and harmonized food safety standards reduce the multiplicity of food laws for better efficiency. To eliminate the duplication and overlap among the multiple standards, government and private-sector stakeholders should work together to create transparent and uniform food certification standards.

Harmonization will eliminate trade restrictions and stop the unnecessary destruction of healthy food. To make it work, food safety education, training, and communication must all be improved; in particular, information regarding food safety must be written in a way that is easy for politicians and the public to understand while also being accurate, arming them against misinformation.

Food Pathogen Testing Market Ecosystem

Based on type, the salmonella sub-segment is estimated to account for the largest market share of the food pathogen testing market.

Gram-negative, rod-shaped, and mobile enterobacteria, Salmonella is. It has been named as one of the main pathogens in charge of tainted food. The main sources of it are meat, poultry, milk, and eggs. Salmonella epidemics of great proportion have been brought on by raw dairy products, undercooked meat, and eggs. As an illustration, a Salmonella outbreak in August 2022 that was related to Kinder chocolate, a well-known brand of chocolate bars made by the multinational Italian confectionery business Ferrero, infected more than 450 people. Additionally, Natural Grocers Brand 1-pound Organic Amaranth Grain was recalled in July 2022 by Lakewood, Colorado-based Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Markets, Inc. of the US due to possible Salmonella contamination.

Food manufacturers are now being extra cautious before releasing food products to international markets and adopting food safety testing services as a result of these types of recalls, which have put them under financial and legislative pressure. In the long run, this is expected to fuel growth in the global food pathogen testing industry.

Based on Technology, the rapid technology sub-segment of the market is anticipated to dominate the market.

Food producers are increasingly requesting rapid testing technology to speed up results and speed up supply chain operations. Additionally, compared to conventional technology, quick procedures have improved accuracy, sensitivity, and the capacity to test a wide range of pollutants while concurrently generating accurate results. For instance, a new technology that can create and instantly dispense culture media for use in microbiological food testing was introduced by Millipore Sigma, a US, and Canadian-based Life Science business unit of the chemical corporation Merck KGaA, in April 2022. The newly developed technology, known as the ReadyStream system, offers producers increased testing effectiveness and does away with the standard microbiological testing process' five steps.

Regional Insights:

The Asia Pacific market is projected to dominate the food pathogen testing market.

Japan is one of the largest markets for food pathogen testing in the Asia-Pacific region. It is also estimated to be a mature market with a steady growth rate; however, concerns for food safety are still important to the country, owing to which the enforcement of stringent food sanitation laws has become mandatory. The Japanese scrutiny system has revealed food poisoning through pathogens to be the largest outbreak across Japan. E. coli was the major pathogen that caused severe foodborne diseases in Japan.

In Australia, food pathogen testing has gained a significant level of importance owing to frequent increases in the number of foodborne disease outbreaks, increasingly stringent regulations on food safety, a growing level of trade between Australia and other countries, and a sustained number of food recalls, among other reasons. The implementation of a food safety system has reduced the incidences of foodborne diseases in Australia. The development in technologies and the increasing number of regulatory norms have fuelled the growth of this market. The Australian food industry is using strict quality control standards and verifies.

Key Market Players in the Food Pathogen Testing Market

SGS Société Générale de Surveillance SA (Switzerland), Bureau Veritas (France), Intertek Group Plc. (UK), Eurofins Scientific (Europe), ALS (Australia), JBT(US), and TÜV NORD GROUP (Germany) are among the key players in the global market. To increase their company's revenues and market shares, companies are focusing on launching new services, developing partnerships, and expanding their laboratory facilities. The key strategies used by companies in the market include geographical expansion to tap the potential of emerging economies, strategic acquisitions to gain a foothold over the extensive supply chain, and new service launches as a result of extensive research and development (R&D) initiatives.

Food Pathogen Testing Market Report Scope

Food Pathogen Testing Market Segmentation:

Recent Developments in the Food Pathogen Testing Market

• In April 2023, Eurofins USA acquired Rheonix. This partnership enables Eurofins to include the Rheonix Listeria PatternAlert Assay in their microbiology laboratory network.
• In August 2022, ALS expanded its food testing services in Chile by acquiring Corthorn Quality. ALS aims to meet the growing demand for quality and safety assurance in the food industry. This expansion allows ALS to provide comprehensive testing solutions to businesses in Chile, ensuring that food products meet regulatory standards and consumer expectations.
• In November 2021, Mérieux NutriSciences Corporation expanded with the establishment of a state-of-the-art food testing laboratory in Lima, Peru. The lab will perform microbiological and chemical analyses, encompassing different agricultural and industrial food products. This expansion will support in increasing the company's share in the food safety testing market.

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