Surge in rapid food micro testing, says SCI
The market for food microbiology testing has grown significantly and will be worth $2.4bn by 2013, according to a report from Strategic Consulting Inc (SCI).
Food processing companies perform half of all the microbiology testing in the global industrial market, claims the group.
The consultants said that the surge in food micro testing is being driven by the key factors of an increase in food production, increased regulation, growing demand from retailers as well as the industry’s food safety priorities.
SCI said these trends are helping to accelerate the conversion of traditional microbiological testing methods to more rapid versions despite their higher cost per test.
The group said that food micro tests utilizing rapid methods such as convenience-based, immunoassay-based and molecular-based tests have increased by 37 per cent since 2005.
