Report: Plant and Worker Safety Driving Cleaning Chemical Sales

Rising public awareness of the risk of food-borne illnesses due to highly publicized cases concerning ground beef and other products will spur growth in cleaning chemicals, according to a new report from Freedonia.

The Cleveland-based analysts predict that U.S. demand for industrial and institutional cleaning chemicals will increase 3.4 per cent annually to over $10 billion in 2012.

The group said growth reflects the popularity of ready meals and microwaveable foods, which require high sanitary plant and equipment conditions in order to provide effective quality assurance, to satisfy the stringent demands of retailers and to allow processors avoid product safety litigation.

However, Freedonia spokeswoman Corinne Gangloff told FoodProductionDaily.com that, due to their lower costs, processors will continue to rely on general cleaners with conventional product formulations that meet regulatory and environmental standards.

“New formulations using plant-derived raw materials and other biodegradable components will show above average growth, but will remain a relatively small segment of the overall market as they can’t compete on price,” she said.

Source: FoodProductionDaily.com