Food Safety Testing Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2020-2030F

The Food Safety Testing Market was valued at USD 25.35 Billion in 2024, and is expected to reach USD 40.32 Billion by 2030, rising at a CAGR of 8.00%. The growth of the global Food Safety Testing Market is being driven by increasing awareness among farmers about soil health and fertility restoration. With the rising degradation of arable land due to excessive chemical usage and intensive agricultural practices, the demand for organic and inorganic soil amendments has surged. These amendments, including compost, biochar, gypsum, and lime, are increasingly being adopted to improve soil structure, water retention, and nutrient availability - ultimately enhancing crop yield and quality.

Key Market Drivers

Increasing Prevalence of Food-Borne Diseases

The global rise in food-borne diseases is emerging as a critical public health driver, propelled by unsafe handling, inadequate sanitation, and the vulnerability of certain foods. About 600 million people - almost one in ten globally - fall ill each year after consuming contaminated food, resulting in approximately 420,000 deaths annually, including 125,000 among children under five. This widespread burden underscores how unsafe food continues to jeopardize health systems and livelihoods across regions. The scale of illness has pushed regulators, producers, and food handlers to prioritize robust safety practices and stricter surveillance across the entire food supply chain.

Viral pathogens significantly contribute to the rising food-borne illness burden. As of 2024, norovirus alone causes nearly 125 million global cases annually, leading to around 35,000 deaths. Similarly, hepatitis A is responsible for approximately 14 million infections and 28,000 deaths each year. These alarming statistics reflect the increasing vulnerability of ready-to-eat foods, seafood, and frozen produce to contamination, particularly in regions with limited cold chain infrastructure. The presence of these viruses in commonly consumed items is reinforcing the need for preventive measures such as vaccination, proper cooking, and hygiene awareness in both commercial kitchens and households.

In 2023, the European Union reported sharp increases in food-borne bacterial infections. Salmonella cases rose to 77,486 from 65,478 in the previous year, while Campylobacter infections increased to 141,181. Listeriosis cases also surged, reaching their highest level since 2007. These trends emphasize the growing challenges in maintaining food hygiene in modern agriculture and distribution systems, especially with mass-produced and processed meat and dairy. Even in countries with established food safety infrastructure, bacterial outbreaks remain a concern due to evolving bacterial resistance, cross-contamination risks, and the complexity of globalized food trade.

In the United States, government surveillance has shown that pathogens like Campylobacter and Salmonella continue to cause widespread infections. According to 2022 FoodNet data, 25,479 laboratory-confirmed infections were recorded from eight leading food-borne pathogens, resulting in nearly 6,000 hospitalizations and 170 deaths. Despite routine monitoring and interventions, food-borne illness remains persistent, highlighting gaps in consumer awareness, regulatory enforcement, and hygiene practices at food service establishments. These figures signal an urgent need for innovations in pathogen detection, expanded public health education, and improvements in farm-to-fork food handling protocols.

Key Market Challenges

Complex and Fragmented Supply Chains

The global food industry operates across intricate and extended supply chains involving multiple stakeholders, such as farmers, processors, transporters, distributors, and retailers. Each stage of the journey introduces unique risks for contamination, adulteration, or spoilage. As products cross borders and pass through different handling environments, maintaining consistent quality and safety becomes increasingly difficult.

Disparate practices across regions - ranging from differences in sanitation standards to varying levels of automation - create blind spots in traceability. Additionally, the lack of standardized data-sharing mechanisms among stakeholders delays response times during contamination outbreaks. These gaps not only hinder regulatory enforcement but also pose serious health risks to consumers. The longer and more fragmented the supply chain, the harder it becomes to pinpoint the exact source of contamination, leading to widespread recalls and loss of consumer trust, along with financial and reputational damage for the companies involved.

Moreover, the growth of online grocery platforms and international trade has further compounded the complexity of food supply chains. With food products often sourced from one country, processed in another, and sold in a third, regulatory oversight is frequently inconsistent or delayed. Small and medium-sized producers, particularly in developing nations, may lack the infrastructure to maintain rigorous safety standards during transit or storage. Temperature-sensitive products, such as dairy or seafood, are especially vulnerable to spoilage if cold chains are broken, yet monitoring systems are not universally applied. In such an environment, real-time tracking, blockchain-based traceability, and harmonized quality control protocols become critical - but adoption is still limited. Without integrated oversight, even a minor lapse at one stage can jeopardize the safety of the entire batch, highlighting the urgent need for digitized, transparent, and collaborative supply chain frameworks in the global food safety testing market.

Key Market Trends

Accelerated Adoption of Rapid and Molecular Testing

The accelerated adoption of rapid and molecular testing methods is transforming the food safety landscape by offering faster, more accurate, and highly sensitive detection of contaminants. Traditional culture-based methods, which can take several days to yield results, are increasingly being replaced by technologies like polymerase chain reaction (PCR), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). These molecular tools can detect low levels of pathogens such as Salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli in a matter of hours, significantly reducing the time between sample collection and corrective action. This speed is crucial in preventing contaminated products from reaching the market and enabling timely recalls when needed. As consumer expectations around food safety rise and regulatory agencies enforce tighter compliance windows, food producers and testing laboratories are investing in rapid diagnostics to ensure continuous safety monitoring across processing and distribution channels.

Moreover, the growing complexity of food supply chains and rising incidence of contamination outbreaks are driving demand for on-site and point-of-need testing. Rapid and portable molecular testing kits are now being deployed in food processing facilities, agricultural fields, and transportation hubs, allowing real-time detection without waiting for central lab results. These solutions improve traceability, enable faster decision-making, and help meet the increasing demand for transparency and accountability. Additionally, technological advancements are making these tools more cost-effective and user-friendly, expanding their accessibility to small and mid-sized food businesses. The integration of molecular testing with digital platforms for data logging and traceability is further enhancing their value, positioning rapid diagnostics as a cornerstone trend in the evolving global food safety testing market.

Key Market Players

• SGS S.A.
• Romer Labs Division Holding GmbH
• Intertek Group plc
• Bureau Veritas SA
• NSF International
• Eurofins Scientific SE
• Microbac Laboratories, Inc.
• Covance Inc.
• Merieux NutriSciences
• Nova Biologicals, Inc.

Report Scope:

In this report, global food safety testing market has been segmented into following categories, in addition to the industry trends which have also been detailed below:

Food Safety Testing Market, By Technology:

• Traditional
• Rapid

Food Safety Testing Market, By Food Tested:

• Meat & Poultry
• Dairy Products
• Fruits & Vegetables
• Processed Food
• Others

Food Safety Testing Market, By Target Tested:

• Pathogens
• GMO
• Toxins
• Pesticides
• Others

Food Safety Testing Market, By Region:

• Asia-Pacific
• China
• Japan
• India
• South Korea
• Australia
• Europe
• France
• Germany
• United Kingdom
• Italy
• Spain
• North America
• United States
• Mexico
• Canada
• South America
• Brazil
• Argentina
• Colombia
• Middle East & Africa
• UAE
• South Africa
• Saudi Arabia

Competitive Landscape

Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in global food safety testing market.

Available Customizations:

With the given market data, the publisher offers customizations according to a company’s specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report.

Company Information

• Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players (up to five).