Drivers: India Food and Environment Analysis Market
STEADILY GROWING EXPORT OF MEAT FROM INDIA
Various regulatory bodies such as Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) propose guidelines and regulations for microbial testing of meat and meat products, to ensure the safety and quality of the products consumed in India and exported from the country.
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FSSAI has segmented the meat and meat products, into 9 major categories for microbial testing, which include fresh meat, frozen meat, dried or dehydrated meat products, chilled meat, cured or pickled meat, raw minced meat or meat product, fermented meat products, canned or retort pouch meat and cooked or semi-cooked meat.
- In September 2015, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), presented new standards for the microbial testing parameters of meat and meat products. The new testing parameters have been categorized into Safety Indicator Organisms and Hygiene Indicator Organisms.
RISING DEMAND FOR ANTIBIOTICS TESTING OWING TO THE HIGH EXPORT OF HONEY FROM INDIA
Honey is naturally produced by honey bees from secretions of plants or from the nectar of blossoms. As per the quality and purity standards stipulated by Indian regulatory bodies such as FSSAI, there should be no foreign matter including dirt, mould, scum, fragments of bees, and the pieces of beeswax in honey.
Further, the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation also regulate various standards of honey, under the Grading and Marking Rules (AGMARK). According to this grading and marking rules, honey is segmented into three major categories including special honey, Grade –A honey and standard honey. This helps in representing the quality of honey for certification. In addition to this, it also specifies the method of marking, labelling, and packaging of honey.
Further, in the case of antibiotics testing in India, safety standards are similar to those in US and European Union, where the presence of antibiotics is strictly prohibited in honey.
- In India, antibiotic residues are found in honey in large quantities as they are used in apiculture as well as for beekeeping. For instance, Oxytetracycline is majorly used in apiculture to treat European foulbrood disease (EFB) and various antibiotics such as lincomycin, erythromycin and streptomycin among others are used in beekeeping.
However, in some EU countries, the use of antibiotics is illegal for beekeeping and under the European Community regulations, honey containing antibiotic residues are not permitted to be sold. Some of the European countries, such as UK, Switzerland, and Belgium, have set a limit for antibiotics in honey, which is around 0.01 to 0.05 mg/kg for each antibiotic.
Thus, the high export of honey from India, to the regions such as Europe and North America, is majorly driving the antibiotics test demand. This in turn, is supporting the growth of the India food and environment analysis market.
GROWING PREVALENCE OF FOOD BORNE DISEASES, DUE TO THE CONSUMPTION OF THE CONTAMINATED FOOD IN THE COUNTRY
Growing prevalence of food borne diseases in the country is creating the awareness among the consumers, regarding the adverse impact of consuming contaminated food and necessity of various tests for food safety and standard check. Thus, it is supporting the growth of the India food and environment analysis market.
For instance, according to the data provided by the National Center for Disease Control Directorate General of Health Services, Government of India, microbial pathogens such as E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella sp, Vibrio sp and Yersinia enteroclitica are some of the microbial pathogens, responsible for recorded foodborne diseases in India from 1980 to 2016.
Salmonella is one of the most common microbial pathogen, responsible for foodborne illnesses. Further, Staphylococcus aureus bacteria grew in food products and releases toxins, which cause food poisoning.
Thus, the rising cases of food borne diseases in the country and growing awareness regarding the adverse impact of consuming contaminated food is expected to support the demand for food testing. This, in turn will support the overall growth of the India food and environment analysis market as well.
RISING DEMAND FOR MICROBIAL TESTING FROM PHARMACEUTICAL AND WATER TESTING FROM AGRICULTURE SECTOR
Microbial testing is experiencing a huge demand from pharmaceutical sector. Owing to this factor, key players are now focusing for providing better and enhanced microbial testing services for pharmaceutical products.
- For instance, in October 2016, the bioMerieux India Private Limited launched a new automated diagnostic solution for microbial testing in pharmaceutical production under the brand name EviSight. It is a digital imaging technology which provides color images of the microbial cultures with high resolution. Thus providing easy detection for microbial, during testing.
Owing to its embedded data processing system, EviSight is able to meet the growing demand from the pharmaceutical industry for data integrity and quality control methods.
This compact system is also useful for growth promotion test, water testing, environmental control and in-process sample testing for the development and manufacturing of pharmaceutical products. Further, SGS SA, provide a wide range of water testing services for agricultural application such as irrigation. These tests, helps evaluating the water quality and thus improve the agricultural water management activities. The company provides water testing services against a wide list of parameters, such as ammonium and nitrate, arsenic, cadmium, calcium and manganese, chloride, copper and zinc, electrical conductivity (EC), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), fluoride, PH, potassium and sodium for farming water.
Thus, the increasing number of services provided by key players in India, for microbial testing, in pharmaceutical and agricultural sector is anticipated to fuel the overall growth of the India food and environment analysis market.
Restraint: India Food and Environment Analysis Market
LACK OF AWARENESS ABOUT FOOD SAFETY REGULATIONS IN CATERING INDUSTRY
In India, catering industry is considered as one of the fastest growing sector. Based on consumer preferences, catering industries provide a wide range of food products including regional street foods as well as multi-continental cuisines.
According to the data provided by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI), on the basis of premise, catering industry is segmented into two major categories including on- premise catering and Off-Premise Catering.
Catering industry in India is growing rapidly and contributed heavy penetration in the financial year of 2016 and is expected to grow significantly during 2021, according to FSSAI.
However, according to the FSSAI, catering industry in India faces key challenges of having poor control on the safety standards of raw materials including pesticides residues, drug residues, etc. In addition, the water used by the majority of the street food vendors is provided by the municipal authorities and usually the quality of water is not potable. This makes the food unsafe for consumption.
Thus, the low awareness about food safety regulations in catering industry is restraining the growth of the India food and environment analysis Market.
STRINGENT REGULATIONS FOR LABORATORY FACILITIES PROVIDING FOOD TESTING SERVICES
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) are some of the major regulatory bodies, which regulate standards for the laboratories providing food testing services in the country. These stringent regulations are considered as another factor, restraining the market growth.
- For instance, according to the data provided by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) in 2017, laboratory facility should have trained and competent work force for food testing. In the case of unavailability of in-house laboratory, all the regular testing should be done through an accredited external laboratory. However, it must be notified by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
Further, according to the FSSAI, all the food samples should be tested and records should be maintained. For instance, each category of jam, jelly, marmalade requires proper testing, as per FSS (Food Safety Sciences) standards & regulations 2011. These testing must be done at least once in every six months from the labs which are approved by FSSAI.
Thus, the high regulation for laboratory facilities providing food testing services is considered as a key factor, restraining the growth of the India food and environment analysis market.
OPPORTUNITIES:
HIGH DEMAND FOR ESCHERRICHIA COLI (E.COLI) TESTING
Escherichia coli (E. coli) are a large group of bacteria. These bacteria are found in the food, environment and intestines of humans as well as of animals. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), some kinds of E. coli bacteria are associated with various diseases such as diarrhoea, urinary tract infections, respiratory illness, pneumonia and many more.
Further, according to the data provided by Center for Disease Control India, in 2017, E.coli is considered as an emerging pathogen in animal, humans and food in India. Some of the other emerging pathogens are Yersinia enterocolitica, Listeria monocytogenes, Shigella sonnei and Campylobacter jejuni.
These pathogens have developed high level of resistance against drug and thus, there is a growing demand for escherrichia coli (E.coli) testing, in order to avoid, food borne disease, caused by these bacteria.
- For instance, according to the data provided by the Center for Disease Control India, there are approximately 211 cases of food-borne diseases due to the E.coli bacteria which were reported in India from 1980-2016.
The food safety tests can reduce the cases of illnesses and food borne disease caused by E. coli and other harmful bacteria. Thus, the rising awareness regarding these factors, is fueling the demand for the Escherrichia coli (E.coli) testing in the food products. This in turn, is anticipated to create new growth opportunities in the overall growth of the India food and environment analysis market, during the forecast period of 2019-2026.
NEW AND ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES FOR E. COLI TESTING OFFERS CHEAPER AND FASTER FOOD TESTING SERVICES
The technology of E. coli testing is continuously improving and provides faster services at the cheaper rate. For instance, according to the data provided by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2017, a new technology has been developed for the faster detection of bacterial presence.
Under this technology, a liquid droplet is used. This droplet has an ability to bind the bacterial proteins. This interaction is easily detectable and thus offers cheaper and faster testing, when compared to the conventional food safety tests.
However, various researches are still going on for the commercialization of this technology in the microbial testing services.
As of now, the conventional food safety testing majorly involves the placing of food samples in a culture dish for the detection of harmful bacterial colonies. This process is lengthy and requires approximately three days. However, the rapid technologies based on antibody-bacterial interactions and bacterial DNA amplification is expensive and demands special instruments.
Thus, the development of new technology for E. coli testing services at cheaper and faster rate is considered as the major opportunity for the growth of the India food and environment analysis market during the forecast period (2019-2026).
CHALLENGES:
HIGH COST OF FOOD AND WATER TESTING
The cost of the food and water testing services are quite high. Owing to this fact, it is difficult for the small scale laboratories to afford high costing food and water testing services. For instance, according to the data provided by the CostHelper, Inc., a lab test for well water sample costs around USD 50-500. However, the cost highly depends on the number and the type of compound to be tested.
The cost of the bulk package for food and water testing services are also high in the country and thus challenging the growth of the India food and environment analysis market.
POSSIBILITY OF ADULTERATION IN FOOD PRODUCTS DUE TO PACKAGING
Food adulteration is defined as the addition of any foreign matter in the food which causes the disturbance in the natural composition and overall quality of the food product. Adulterated food consumption is associated with various diseases.
There are two types of adulteration possible in the food products, which include intentional and unintentional adulteration.
- Intentional food Adulteration: Intentional food adulteration is majorly done in order to achieve financial gain. For instance, addition of water into the liquid milk. Moreover, colour adulteration is another form of intentional adulteration.
- Unintentional food Adulteration: Improper food packaging methods and the lack of testing facilities, leads to the unintentional food adulteration.
Thus, even after testing the food samples there is a possibility of food getting adulterated during packaging, this is considered as another challenge for the India food and environment analysis market growth
Market Trends:
On the basis of type, the market is segmented into Food and Water.
On the basis of application, the market is segmented into Fruits and Vegetables, Cereals and Pulses, Processed Food and Beverages, Animal Feed, Meat and Sea Food, Water and others.
Major Players: India Food and Environment Analysis Market
Some of the major players operating in this market are FICCI RESEARCH & ANALYSIS CENTRE, SGS SA, CET TEST HOUSE –CEG, Eurofins Scientific, Shriram Institute For Industrial Research, Avonfoodlab, Bharat Test House group, ITL Labs Private Limited ABC Techno Labs, and others..
