| |
The term food additive applies broadly to chemicals that are added to food, either intentionally or indirectly, to facilitate processing, maintain product consistency, extend shelf life, ensure microbiological safety, improve or maintain nutritional value, or enhance the organoleptic qualities (flavor, color and texture) of the finished products. This report covers six major product categories of food additives including thickeners and stabilizers, alternative sweeteners, colors, enzymes, shelf life extenders (including antioxidants and preservatives) and emulsifiers. During the past five years the product category “nutraceutical ingredients” has become so prominent that it will be covered in a separate SCUP report to be issued in 2005. Vitamins and antioxidants that were included in the previous SCUP FoodAdditives report will be included in the SCUP Nutraceutical Ingredients report.
The food additives industry as a whole is highly fragmented, with a plethora of products and participants serving a common end-use market—the food industry. Additives manufacturers vary greatly in size and product/market focus. However, with a few exceptions (the most notable being Danisco), producers typically supply additives in a limited number of product categories (e.g., colors, enzymes, vitamins) or service selected food sectors (e.g., dairy-based products, meats, bakery products). Downsizing and consolidation in the food industry have over the last ten or so years had considerable impact on traditional customer-supplier relations. Food additive manufacturers are required to provide more technical service and formulations expertise and to compete more aggressively for a smaller number of large accounts. Distribution is typically direct from additive producer to food processor for large-volume sales, with distributors playing an important role in servicing/supplying regional and/or smaller accounts.
In 2004, the value of food additive consumption for the product areas covered in this report reached approximately $9.9 billion and is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 1.75% (fixed price dollar basis) per year, reaching an estimated $10.8 billion by 2009. Changes in pricing (particularly in those segments where China has become a significant competitive factor) and foreign exchange rates may cause some of the category growth rates to appear somewhat contradictory in terms of value.
While there are many differences in food tastes and preferences among the three major industrialized world regions, the major trends driving the food additives industry appear to be very similar in all regions—concern over health and nutrition, particularly the need to control widespread obesity and diabetes; food safety; desire for convenience; the concept of value-added products; the high costs associated with R&D and regulatory compliance; and new product commercialization. Growing concern regarding the connection between diet and major diseases has caused consumers to reexamine their diets and life styles and seek healthier alternatives. Consumers’ desire for healthier, more nutritious and allergy-free foods will favor natural additives and ingredients as well as those that reduce calories, sodium and cholesterol. Fortification with the “right” level of vitamins, amino acids, and minerals will be important, and additives that sound natural (e.g., pectin, vitamin C, enzymes) versus chemical (e.g., potassium benzoate, butylated hydroxyanisole) will have a more favorable consumer image. Bioactive additives and ingredients—like PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids), plant sterols, pre- and probiotics—will also receive increasing attention from both consumers and food manufacturers.
The following pie chart shows consumption of food additives in the United States, Western Europe and Japan:
In addition to traditional processed food products, the new food segment known as nutraceutical ingredients or functional foods has dramatically changed food markets. A nutraceutical can be broadly defined as any substance that may be considered food or part of a food that provides medical and health benefits, including the prevention and treatment of disease.
As a result of the trend toward healthier lifestyles and foods, alternative sweeteners are among the fastest growing categories in the industry and are expected to show good growth during 2004–2009. Fat replacement is still important to consumers in the United States, but interest in low- and no-fat products has weakened. Even the advent of olestra in snack food products and the introduction of some other “true” fat substitutes like salatrim and caprenin have not provided the solution. At present the principal interest in the fat area is to develop suitable substitutes for trans fatty acids.
The safety of the food supply continues to receive a great deal of attention from the press, public and government. In 1993, an outbreak of food poisoning in the United States, eventually traced to undercooked beef, caused fundamental changes in regulatory policies and demonstrated to food processors the need for increased caution against food pathogens. The European outbreaks of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), have created serious concern about cattle-derived food products, including some dietary supplements (e.g., gelatin capsules) and personal care products. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. Congress passed legislation directing the FDA to register facilities that manufacture and process food and to engage in more active monitoring of food imports into the United States. The legislation is titled the “Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002,” commonly called the “Bioterrorism Act
|
