FSMA's Implementation Will Lead To Growth In The Food Safety Testing Market

By Karla Paris

As federal regulations promote a proactive approach to food safety, food processors and manufacturers will invest big dollars in technology to prevent foodborne illness

The CDC reports that as many as 1 in 6 Americans are expected to get sick, hospitalized, or even die from food-borne illness each year. According to a study done by Ohio State University consumer science professor, Robert Scharff, “The basic cost-of-illness model includes economic estimates for medical costs, productivity losses, and illness-related death. “ Using this basic model, Scharff estimates the total annual cost is $51 billion.

According to RnRMarketResearch, implementation of food safety regulations has been driving the food safety testing market globally, while North America continues to dominate the food safety testing market.  With technology as a key contributing factor, according to the report, the overall increase is anticipated to grow by nearly $5 billion. Food manufactures are taking note of all of this. The financial cost that food manufacturers incur from food-borne illnesses is tremendous. RnRMarketResearch is projecting that the Food Safety Testing Market will grow to $14 billion by 2018. 

Since the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law by President Obama on January 4, 2011, the agency has been implementing regulations for food safety to ensure that manufactures are using Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Good Agriculture Practices (GAP), and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems. These regulations specify testing of food materials and food manufacturing processes at every stage, in an effort to prevent food contamination as well as outbreaks of food-borne illness.

The FDA continues looking at ways to combat food-borne illnesses, enacting guidelines and regulations that every food processing and manufacturing plant must follow to help protect consumers and food manufacturers alike. In an effort to comply with these guidelines, manufacturers are looking to more technology initiatives, such as food-safety monitoring systems, to detect the presence of contaminants. Food safety software and monitoring platforms are much more time efficient and cost effective than traditional and manual culturing and enrichment methods.

The FDA is nearing a court mandated deadline, at which point they must have a framework of preventive controls regulations in place that strengthens a system that exposes Americans to an abundance of health risks as reflected in the CDC’s statistics. Congress has established specific implementation dates in the legislation.  Some mandates will go into effect quickly, such as FDA’s authority to order companies to recall food, while other directives require the FDA to prepare and issue regulations and guidance documents.  Building a new food safety system based on prevention will take time, and the FDA is creating a process for getting this work done.  The funding the agency gets each year, which affects staffing and vital operations, will also affect how quickly FDA can put this legislation into effect.

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