Food Additives

Published April 2024

Food additives enable the mass production of safe, flavorful, nutritious, and visually appealing foods and beverages. Although additives make up only a small amount of the finished product (from parts per million to 1%-2% by weight), they have a major impact on the color, taste, texture, mouthfeel, visual appearance and shelf life of prepared foods.

The term food additive applies broadly to chemicals that are added to food to facilitate processing, maintain product consistency, extend shelf life, ensure microbiological safety, improve or maintain nutritional value, or enhance the organoleptic qualities (flavor, color and texture) of the finished products. Six major categories of food additives — thickeners and stabilizers, specialty sweeteners (high-intensity sweeteners and polyols), colors, emulsifiers, enzymes and shelf life extenders (antioxidants and preservatives) — are covered in this report.

The following pie chart shows world consumption of food additives by type on a value basis:

North America was the largest consuming region, followed by mainland China, Western Europe, and Southeast Asia and Oceania. In general, regional food additive consumption reflects the maturity of the regional food processing industry as well as the size of the population and the level of economic development — that is, GDP per capita.

For more detailed information, see the table of contents, shown below.

S&P Global’s Specialty Chemicals Update Program –Food Additives is the comprehensive and trusted guide for anyone seeking information on this industry. This latest report details global and regional information, including

Key benefits

S&P Global’s Specialty Chemicals Update Program –Food Additives has been compiled using primary interviews with key suppliers and organizations, and leading representatives from the industry in combination with S&P Global’s unparalleled access to upstream and downstream market intelligence and expert insights into industry dynamics, trade and economics.

This report can help you

• Identify the competitive environment and key players
• Assess key issues facing both suppliers and their end-use customers
• Understand industry integration strategies
• Keep abreast of industry structure changes, regulatory requirements, and other factors affecting profitability
• Identify new business opportunities and threats
• Follow important commercial developments
• Recognize trends and driving forces influencing specialty chemical markets