Food testing market set for rapid expansion
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
E.coli testing market expected to reach US$2.1 billion by 2022
ALBANY, NY—With E.coli infections causing frequent food and waterborne outbreaks worldwide, regulators are getting more aggressive in the war on microbes.
According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research, the global E.coli testing market is set to expand to US$2.1 billion by 2022, nearly doubling from $1.2 billion in 2013.
E.coli infections are common across all the parts of the world. The bacterium is known to cause food or water-borne infections and urinary tract infections. According to an article published in the Journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, E.coli accounts for over 85% of all urinary tract infections. Rapid development of drug resistance and their frequent outbreaks through contaminated food have raised serious health concerns.
A recent epidemic of a virulent Shiga-toxin-producing E.coli strain in Germany was one the largest E.coli outbreaks, is one recent case. Therefore, the demand for rapid and accurate methods for detecting E.coli in clinical and environmental samples has increased considerably.
The Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S. has approved three methods for testing environmental water samples; these include membrane filtration, multiple tube fermentation or most probable number, and enzyme-substrate reaction based presence or absence tests.
MPN is one of the oldest method of E.coli enumeration, and is being replaced by membrane filtration method to a large extent. With membrane filtration method, large volume of water samples can be tested, and more accurate results can be provided as compared to multiple tube fermentation method.
P/A tests are qualitative tests that produce colored substrate indicating presence of E.coli in water sample. P/A test is easy to perform, and does not require a skilled personnel. Further sophisticated laboratory equipment are not required for accurate test results; wherein only a small or medium size incubator is required to store test bottles. Due to these factors, P/A tests are rapidly capitalizing the E.coli testing market.
In 2013, Europe dominated the global E.coli testing market due to outbreak of foodborne infection in Germany. In addition, rapidly growing bottled water industry also support the dominance of the region. The E.coli testing market in Asia Pacific was valued at US$15 million in 2013 but is set for quick expansion. Asia Pacific consists of the most promising economies such as India and China, while Japan is a leading market in the region. Water pollution has become a major crisis in China. An article published in Nature in June 2014 stated that over 200 million individuals fall ill due to acquisition of water borne diseases in China each year.
The report identified Abbott Laboratories, Danaher Corporation, bioMerieux, Enzo Life Sciences, Inc., DiaSorin S.p.A., F. Roche Diagnostics, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Hologic, Becton, Dickinson and Company, and Bio-Rad Laboratories as key players in the testing market.
