Changing Consumer Trends Influence on Global Food Additives Industry

The World Health Organization defines food additive as substances added to food to maintain or improve the safety, taste, freshness, texture, or appearance of food. Some food additives have been in use as a preservative for such as salt (in meats such as bacon or dried fish), sugar (in marmalade), or sulfur dioxide (in wine). These food additives are now readily accessible and include sweeteners in low-calorie products, emulsifiers in margarine, and a more comprehensive range of preservatives and antioxidants that slow product spoilage rancidity while maintaining taste.

Changing consumer trends towards low or zero-calorie food and widespread concern among food-safety advocates are leading companies to improve their patterns. Moreover, the hike in demand for packaged food and convenience having additives in higher quantity are acting as drivers for the market. Furthermore, the virus has also boosted the demand for packaged food. For instance, The Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI) announced in March 2020 that the food categories like confectioneries, sweets, and organic processed food having an ample amount of food additives witnessed 15-20%. However, modernization is unaffordable for the small-scale manufacturer, but the large companies do not find investment justifiable due to the compact size of the market is the major restraints.

The new preference to eat sweet foods that do not make you fat has led to the development of a variety of low-calorie intense sweeteners that are much sweeter than sucrose, and are used in tiny amounts to satisfy the taste buds, holding the most significant share in the food additive market. Moreover, about 422 million people worldwide have diabetes, the majority living in low-and middle-income countries leading to 1.6 million deaths each year. Therefore, diabetic foods frequently contain both intense and bulk sweeteners by producing the sweetness and the texture that consumers expect. The fierce sweetener market share Saccharin which is 300 times as sweet as sugar holds maximum share as it has no side effects and is commonly used in highly populated east nations, including China and India. The United States has banned Cyclamate but is popular in other countries.

The major manufacturing and consuming hubs of the food additive market globally are North America and Asia-Pacific due to increasing consumer awareness, innovative approach, and more suitability in their busy schedule. For instance, according to government and industry records, in the five decades since Congress gave the FDA responsible for ensuring the safety of additives in the food supply, the number has spiked from 800 to more than 9,000, ranging from everyday substances such as salt to new green-tea extracts. This increase has primarily driven by demand from busy Americans who get more than half their daily meals from processed foods.

Future Prospects:

• The future of food additive is likely to be on the positive side due to increased food security and reliability leading to a more innovative and demanding platform. For instance, WHO is reducing the guideline for added sugar from 10% of calorie intake to 5% as Finland and Norway consume about 7% of calories in added sugar, but the USA and most of Europe would be closer to 20%. Therefore, a reduction to 5% will be a challenge, indeed.
• FDA, rather than companies, made the final decision on what is safe, which replaced more formal and time-consuming volumetric certification, which may achieve consumers' way of being confident that the food products they buy would not harm them.
• Packaged food sales in India are likely to reach 47 million tonnes by the year 2020, catapulting the country to become the third-largest market in the world, after China and the United States leading to more significant deals.
• The Codex Alimentarius Commission, a joint FAO/WHO activity which develops guidelines for food safety globally, maintains the "General Standards for Food Additives" (GSFA) database, to establish a harmonized, the workable and indisputable international standard for world trade leading to rising in the economy.
• Nano encapsulated food additives can enhance the bio-availability and nutritional value of food, deliver nutraceuticals for therapeutic and other disease prevention effects, provide a significant platform for ongoing and upcoming diseases.
• High-intensity sweeteners Worldwide (HIS) is primarily used in diet and carbonated soft drinks along with its application in areas like food, tabletop sweeteners, personal care products (including toothpaste and mouthwash), and pharmaceuticals likely to be the sector with most significant demand.

Detailed analysis of the global Food Additives Market will be available in our Full Report.