Why is There a Need for Food Safety Testing by Manufactures?
Having a sustainable, safe, and clean food supply is a crucial requirement for consumers. To do the same, the food manufacturers have developed a set of food analysis and testing procedures that allow them to check the quality of food items before packing and dispatching them to the market.
The fact that surviving without required nutrients is challenging shows how important it is to access nutrient-rich food items. For a lot of consumers, the only way of telling if the food product is safe or not is through physical or sensory analysis.
This is why it is important for food manufacturers and packaging firms to ensure that the food products are thoroughly tested for safe consumption.
This article will highlight the food safety testing types and why it is required so much today.
Why is There a High Demand for Food Safety Testing?
When someone gets sick due to any foodborne disease, the first reason that hits the mind of doctors is contamination by various microorganisms such as molds, bacteria, parasites, and viruses.
To detect such microorganisms, different food safety testing methods are available for food manufacturers to use. With the help of food analysis and testing, food businesses verify and ensure that the products being sold by them are free of viruses that can cause harm to public health.
Such testing can also help to eliminate several problems associated with food sectors, such as the production of hazardous food.
The results of the food analysis and testing are also used to educate and inform the common public about the dangers of having such food items.
According to the BIS Research report, the global food safety testing systems and services are supposed to witness high growth from a market value of $15.70 billion in 2019 to touch $24.54 billion by 2025. The market is expected to grow with a CAGR of 7.73% during the forecast period of 2020–2025.
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What Are the Major Kinds of Food Safety Testing Methods?
Following are some of the commonly followed food safety tests by the different food safety labs:
- Microbiology Testing
Microbiology testing refers to tests used to detect pathogens and living organisms harmful to consumers.
The microbiology tests not only detect the pathogens but also check for the overall quality of the products being sold out to different businesses such as grocery stores.
Testing for indicators and spoilage organisms is an important step to ensure the food products’ quality is being sold to the consumers.
- Chemical Testing
This type of food safety testing method is mainly used for detecting the problems such as the high presence of cleaning agents or adulterants in food products.
Chemical testing may also use for establishing standard processing procedures by determining the safety level in the food products through a certain set of parameters.
Other problems detected by chemical testing in food products include:
- Trace contamination or element detection
- Scanning of pesticide residues
- Chemical property testing, such as checking acidity levels in canned edibles
- Physical Testing
Physical testing helps to detect the presence of insects, sharp objects, or filth objects in the products that have the potential to pass several foodborne illnesses and other such injuries.
Generally, the physical tests are done with the use of advanced machines such as X-Rays or detectors.
Physical testing is one of the most used ways followed by the food sector in maintaining the quality of food products.
Food Safety Technology and Tools
There are various techniques and tools available in the food market that cater to food products’ safety applications, from product temperature indicators to other advanced technology for maintaining food products’ safety.
A commonly used food analysis and testing technology is a scanner which plays a significant role in food testing. Scanner technology can scan the viruses and bacteria present in the food before selling them to consumers in the market.
One example of such scanning technology is offered by Veritide (a New Zealand-based food testing company). Its technology showcases promising abilities to scan the viruses and bacterial contamination in the food products such as meat.
Traditionally, contamination was done manually with the help of human efforts. The challenge with the traditional method was the accuracy and speed at which the contemplation step was done.
Also, spotting viruses and bacteria from the food products such as meat manually is a much more challenging task, and achieving accuracy is nearly impossible.
New Zealand-based scanner technology works on automation and spots viruses and bacteria with the help of fluorescent light.
When any virus or bacteria contamination is found on the food products, the scanner passes a warning by lighting or vibration to the users. It allows food manufacturers to take the required steps and save consumers from getting food illnesses.
Final Thoughts
The awareness of food safety testing is constantly increasing among consumers. It is primarily because of the increasing cases of food recalls and foodborne illnesses caused by harmful food products. Consumers today are more educated and want more information about what they are eating. The reason food safety testing is being practiced by food manufacturers is to save and provide the consumers with the required information.
Here’s an interesting article on clean label ingredients that you may also be interested in reading.
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