In its Current and Future Trends in Preservatives report, the organisation said value growth in the market was definitely slowing. Sales growth had fallen from 1.6% in 2007 to 1.1% in 2010, with total value running at $1.35bn (£847M).

"From 2009 to 2010, the market grew but at a slower rate than previous years, reflecting the slowdown in NPD (new product development) activity by food and drink manufacturers," the report states.

"One of the slightly difficult things about the preservatives market is that there has been significant growth in products with the 'no preservatives' mark," said Laura Kempster, who wrote the report. "The trend is to remove preservatives rather than make a 'natural preservatives' claim."

However, some areas had generated strong value growth, she said, notably organic preservatives, which are derived from non-mineral sources, which delivered a 6.5% rise in sales.

Among these, lactic acid and lactates, which are used in dairy products, ready-to-eat meat products and, increasingly, fresh produce, had clocked up the highest value growth of 11.6%.

Other trends affecting the market include increased innovation and production in emerging economies, such as Latin America, Russia, India and China, particularly for preservatives for convenience foods. Growing competition from these areas was putting downward pressure on prices, offsetting rising raw material costs, the study claimed.

The preservative effects of quorum sensing, active packaging, micro-algae and bacteriophages are also being studied, LFR said.