Food additives are a complicated and quite technical business, one which is getting more complicated each year as food and food additive suppliers work to create food products that meet modern American society demands for convenience, safety, taste, etc., while also being more "natural" and less suspect of being "chemicals." According to a s study from Business Communications Company, Inc. The Food Additives Business, the total U.S. market for food additives reached nearly $5 billion in 2001 and is expected to rise at an AAGR (average annual growth rate) of 3.1% to $5.8 billion in 2006. As with colors, natural flavors have been growing faster lately than synthetic ones. Flavor enhancers, primarily MSG, but increasingly newer and less controversial products like ribonucleotides, have also growing nicely. Flavorings and flavor enhancers is the largest of all classes of additives, almost $1.25 billion in 2001, growing to $1.46 billion in 2006. Formulation aids is a $1.1 billion market of materials that influence the texture, homogeneity, and stability of foods. These make a processed food easier to work with, of better consistency, or more attractive. They are called by a number of names, including binders, fillers, stabilizers, surfactants, thickeners, and others. This market should grow at an AAGR of 2.7% to almost $1.3 billion in 2006. Calorie reduction agents consist of two different types of materials, fat reducers (FRs) and nonnutritive sweeteners (NS products). This is the third largest food additive category, primarily because of the large NS market, although not as large as predicted in the report done in 1998 because of the slowdown in the U.S. economy and product competition. Still, this was a market of more than a billion dollars in 2001. Processing aids and others includes anticaking agents, antifoams and defoamers, bleaching/maturing agents, dough conditioners, clarifying agents and deodorizers, edible coatings, food additive enzymes, gelling agents, humectants, leavening agents, microwave browning agents, release agents, sequestrants/chelating agents, and water-correcting agents. This catch-all market category is large at $535 million in 2001, and should grow to about $629 million in 2006. Acidulants are an old and mature group of chemicals, most of which are organic acids that add acidity and often tartness to foods. The major product is citric acid, but several other acids find use, such as lactic, malic and phosphoric acids. Acidulants find their largest market in beverages, mostly in soft drinks. The U.S. market for acidulants was about $410 million in our base year of 2001, and should grow at an AAGR of 3.3% to $483 million in forecast year 2006. Food colorants and adjuvants, both uncertified (natural) and certified (artificial) are growing faster these days, driven by public demand for "natural" and less "chemical" products. This $320 million market should grow to $371 million in 2006. Preservatives include both antimicrobial (mostly organic acids or salts) and antioxidant products. Natural products are growing faster than synthetic ones, but often do not do as good a job at low concentrations. This market is similar in size to food colorants at $321 million in 2001, growing at an AAGR of 3% to $372 million in 2006.

U.S. Market for Food Additives, through 2006 ($ Millions)

	2001	2006	AAGR % 2001-2006
Food additives market	4,977	5,796	3.1

U.S. Market for Food Additives by Types and Materials, through 2006 ($ Millions)