The food safety testing services market is expected to grow from a valuation of USD 18.1 billion in 2025 to USD 35.7 billion by 2035 at a CAGR of 7.0% during the forecast period. This growth is being driven by the increasing demand for food safety, quality assurance, and traceability across the global food supply chain.
Rising concerns over foodborne illnesses, regulatory compliance, and consumer demand for safe and high-quality food products are pushing manufacturers and suppliers to adopt advanced testing solutions. This expansion reflects the growing need for reliable testing services to ensure food safety at every stage of production, from sourcing to packaging and distribution.
| Metrics | Values |
|---|---|
| Industry Size (2025E) | USD 18.1 billion |
| Industry Value (2035F) | USD 35.7 billion |
| CAGR (2025 to 2035) | 7.0% |
In May 2025, a study was published introducing an innovative smartphone-based food traceability system that utilizes RFID technology and smartphone sensors. This system tracks products and monitors temperature, humidity, and location during storage and transport, providing real-time data to both managers and consumers.
Implemented in the kimchi supply chain in Korea, the system demonstrated improved efficiency and accurate traceability, significantly enhancing food safety and quality across supply chains. This innovation has the potential to revolutionize how food safety is monitored and maintained globally.
In 2025, the microbiological testing segment is expected to dominate the market, accounting for 39.5% of the market share. This segment’s prominence can be attributed to the increasing prevalence of foodborne pathogens, which continue to pose significant risks to public health. As regulations around food safety become more stringent, microbiological testing services are being increasingly demanded to identify contaminants, assess hygiene levels, and ensure that food products meet safety standards.
The microbiological testing services are also becoming essential in the face of new challenges, such as global food trade, climate change, and emerging pathogens. China is identified as a key growth region for the food safety testing services market. This growth is driven by the rapid expansion of the food processing industry, growing consumer awareness, and the increasing demand for certified food products in the region.
The table below provides a comparative analysis of the semi-annual CAGR variations for the base year (2024) and the current year (2025) in the global industry. This evaluation highlights the industry's growth trajectory and revenue realization trends, offering key stakeholder's insights into the sector's evolving performance.
| Particular | Value CAGR |
|---|---|
| 2024 to 2034 (H1) | 6.1% |
| 2024 to 2034 (H2) | 6.7% |
| 2025 to 2035 (H1) | 6.2% |
| 2025 to 2035 (H2) | 6.8% |
The first half of each year (H1) spans from January to June, while the second half (H2) includes July to December. Over the forecast period (2025 to 2035), the food safety testing services market is anticipated to expand steadily. In H1 2024 to H1 2034, the industry is expected to register a CAGR of 6.1%, followed by an accelerated growth rate of 6.7% in H2 2025 to H2 2035. Moving further into the forecast period, from H1 2025 to H2 2035, the CAGR is projected to increase to 6.2%, stabilizing at 6.8% in the subsequent half.
In the first half (H1) of the decade, the industry recorded a 10 BPS increase, while in H2, a moderate increase of 10 BPS was observed. This trend highlights the progressive demand for stringent food safety measures, driven by regulatory compliance, consumer health concerns, and technological advancements in testing methodologies.
Microbiological testing is currently the most dominant sub-segment, as it accounted for a global industry share of 39.5% in 2025. This development is driven by the increasing incidence of foodborne diseases, with pathogens such as Salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli present considerable threats throughout the food sector.
Promulgation of stringent food safety regulations by governments and regulatory agencies mandates frequent microbiological tests to be performed by manufacturers to avoid contamination. Furthermore, ready-to-eat (RTE) meals, meat, dairy, and seafood are particularly vulnerable to microbial contamination, thus requiring more frequent microbiological testing. With something like AI-enabled analysis, automation has become a key driver of this industry to perform high-throughput tests, especially in food safety testing labs.
The meat, poultry, and seafood products segment accounts for a value share of 42.7% of the total food safety testing market in 2025. This segment is also the largest due to the high risk of contamination associated with raw meat and seafood, such as bacterial pathogens, antibiotic residues, and heavy metals.
Governments across the globe have also bolstered testing mandates for meat processing units, particularly those in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific with sizeable meat export businesses. Amid rising concerns over zoonotic disease and the potential for cross-contamination, food makers are committing resources to enhanced contamination screening, from PCR-based microbial testing and allergen analysis to spectroscopy methods that can find residuals.
The rising demand for organic and antibiotic-free meat products is intensifying the scrutiny of pesticide and veterinary drug residues. Tightened safety-based testing protocols will contribute to the growing acceptance of alternative protein and lab-grown meat industries in the coming decade.
The food safety testing services industry is growing due to the rising regulatory compliance, more consumer awareness, and the demand for transparency in food manufacturing. Food manufacturers prioritize speedy and accurate testing to ensure safety regulation compliance and avoid recalls, while regulatory bodies enforce stringent policies to ensure public health.
Testing laboratories spend in state-of-the-art analytical tools like PCR, chromatography, and spectroscopy to enhance the detection of contaminants, allergens, pathogens, and chemical residues. Consumers are becoming more food safety conscious and expect third-party assurance of quality.
The sector is moving toward automated, AI-based, and blockchain-based testing solutions to boost traceability and efficiency. With increasing global food trade and growing risk of contamination, the need for food safety testing services will keep on rising, particularly in processed foods, dairy, meat, and organic food products.
Rising Popularity of Ready-to-Eat Products Driving Demand for Rapid Food Safety Testing
Increasing need for ready-to-eat (RTE) and convenience foods is transforming the global food safety testing services market. Consumers globally, especially urban dwellers, are opting for pre-packaged meals, frozen foods, and minimally processed snacks, which need rigorous microbiological and chemical testing to ensure food safety standards compliance.
This has contributed to more emphasis being laid on the detection of pathogens at high speed, real-time monitoring of contamination, and state-of-the-art packaging analysis to improve the shelf life of food. Additionally, worldwide regulatory agencies are enhancing food safety regulations for RTE foods, compelling producers to implement high-frequency testing and automated quality control systems.
The demand for rapid turnaround times and high throughputs of testing capacity is driving innovation in AI-based quality control systems, blockchain traceability, and cloud-based monitoring solutions. With growing consumption of RTE products, food safety service companies are incorporating predictive analytics and digital monitoring systems for the purpose of prevention and compliance tracking in the global supply chain.
Regional Adaptation Strategies in Food Safety Testing
The industry for food safety testing services is also seeing an increase in regional adaptation strategies, as testing rules and contamination risk prove to vary hugely across the globe. Whereas developed economies have strict testing standards, emerging markets are slowly catching up by imposing stronger local regulatory environments.
Industry players are opening extended local food safety laboratories to cover region-specific adulterants like aflatoxins in crops in tropical climates, pesticide levels in fresh vegetables and fruits, and antibiotic residue in dairy products and meats. Regional eating habits also impact testing protocols; e.g., aquatic food testing becomes important in seaside countries, meat authentication is most important in the countries that practice stringent religious or cultural dietary restriction.
As globalization raises the level of complexity in cross-border food trade, manufacturers and testing service providers are turning their attention to harmonizing safety standards, simplifying multi-region compliance testing, and using sophisticated DNA-based and allergen-specific testing tailored to specific regional risks.
Shift Between Organic and Conventional Food Safety Testing
With the increased demand for organic and minimally processed foods, food safety testing services are adjusting to emerging contamination threats related to unconventional farming practices. In contrast to conventional food, organic food necessitates proprietary testing for cross-contamination, pesticide drift, and heavy metal exposure due to soil conditions.
As the industry for organic food grows, food safety testing laboratories are adding upgraded pesticide-free confirmation, mycotoxin analysis, and microbial safety testing to authenticate organic statements. At the same time, traditional food products continue to dominate world markets, necessitating bulk batch testing for chemical preservatives, GMOs, and synthetic additives.
Growing consumer suspicion of artificial foods is compelling companies to enhance openness in food labeling as testing labs evolve sophisticated molecular detection methods to guarantee authenticity. This transition has increased the need for tailored test solutions, with regulatory agencies imposing more severe labeling compliance, traceability, and third-party certifications on organic and non-organic food products.
The industry of food safety testing services is facing some quite risks, such as regulatory compliance issues, technological barriers, sample contamination, high operational costs, and species of foodborne risks that keep changing.
The regulatory compliance challenges are the main problem because the food safety laws are not the same from one place to another. Regional authorities like FDA (USA), EFSA (Europe), and FSSAI (India) impose tough recommendations concerning microbial contamination, pesticide residues, and chemical additives respectively. Not respecting them would lead to legal actions, recalls, and reputational damages to food companies and testing organizations.
Sample contamination is among the risks that concern operational handling, delivery and storing, which may result in the generation of false-positive or false-negative results. Strict lab protocols and compliance with ISO 17025 accreditation are a must for credibility.
The testing laboratories' high operational costs emanate from assets in machinery, professional workers, and extensive research. Acquiring modern laboratories, and staying compliant with newly introduced regulations are the issues that make it more difficult especially for small and medium-sized companies.
The new foodborne threats, for example, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, chemical contaminants, and newly identified pathogens make the testing methods outdated immediately. If the industry fails to keep up with the changes, it will result in the industry's trust being restored.
| Countries | CAGR (2025 to 2035) |
|---|---|
| USA | 7.4% |
| Germany | 8.0% |
| China | 8.4% |
| Japan | 6.5% |
| India | 6.2% |
The USA is the industry leader in the food safety testing services industry. It follows stringent regulations such as the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which requires extensive testing and preventive measures to guarantee food safety. The multicultural food industry, including processed food, dairy, meat, and seafood, requires periodic testing to reach compliance rates.
Customers increasingly need origin transparency of food due to concerns regarding foodborne illness, pushing businesses towards adopting new-generation sequencing and quick testing technology. Traditional companies continue to support the industry infrastructure by expanding their testing capacities and venturing into technology-inclined investments. FMI is of the opinion that the USA industry is slated to grow at 7.4% CAGR during the study period.
Growth Factors in the USA
| Key Drivers | Details |
|---|---|
| Strict Food Regulation | FSMA requires preventive and routine testing. |
| New Food Industry | Different industries, i.e., dairy and meat, require extended testing. |
| Well-informed Consumer | Increasing food disease concerns fuel testing demand. |
| Technology Advancements | More rapid testing technology and sequencing increase accuracy. |
Germany follows rigorous regulative guidelines along with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to deliver superior safety. Large export trade of food in Germany requires rigorous testing to maintain global standards. Technological revolution and a comprehensive network of accredited laboratories offer quality testing services.
The industry is supported by more focus on quality control, particularly in processed food and beverages, where risk of contamination remains the issue. FMI is of the opinion that the German industry is slated to grow at 8.0% CAGR during the study period.
Growth Factors in Germany
| Key Drivers | Details |
|---|---|
| EFSA-Conformant Regulations | Stricter compliance delivers highest safety standards. |
| Radiant Export Industry | Food exportations need more testing. |
| Advanced Laboratory Network | Accredited laboratories offer higher precision and efficiency in testing. |
| Quality Assurance Focus | The shelf life of processed foods is still a concern. |
China's food safety testing services market is expanding at a CAGR of 8.4% from 2025 to 2035. The government has been forced to enact stricter food safety regulations because of rising incidents of foodborne diseases. The growing middle class and increased demand for foreign and processed food require vast amounts of testing.
Government efforts to enhance food safety infrastructure and the application of new generation testing technology offset the danger of the contaminants. Domestic food production and increased foreign trade further necessitate quality safety testing. FMI is of the opinion that the China industry is slated to grow at 8.4% CAGR during the study period.
Growth Factors in China
| Key Drivers | Details |
|---|---|
| Food Safety Policies of the Government | Tighter regulations enhance safety surveillance. |
| Processed Food Expansion | Higher demand necessitates increased safety precautions. |
| Imported Foods Consumption | Increased reliance on imported food testing. |
| Modernization of Infrastructure | Investment enhances food safety testing capacity. |
Japan is highly focused on tight safety standards to comply with local and export legislation. Japan's aged populations have compelled the requirements of high-quality and safer foods, which has similarly compelled augmented safety testing innovations. Increased technology in food safety automation and microbiological analysis enhances efficiency. The sector is founded on the foundation of government-private sector partnerships in developing effective regulatory frameworks and food safety research spending.
Growth Factors in Japan
| Key Drivers | Details |
|---|---|
| Strict Safety Precautions | Export and domestic regulation compliance facilitated by regulations. |
| Aging Population | Food safety demand by consumers is driven by concern for health. |
| Advanced Microbiological Testing | Technology-aided detection of contamination. |
| Government-Industry Collaboration | Initiatives bolstered by collective efforts towards food safety standards. |
Growing urbanization and consumption habits also drove growth in demand for processed foods, which drove tighter safety tests. The regulatory climate has pressured food safety levels, particularly through efforts of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
With the emerging concerns for adulteration in food and food contamination, a greater burden falls on the companies to apply advanced test solutions. With e-commerce and food purchase through the web, improved mechanisms of quality checks are also desired.
Growth Factors in India
| Key Drivers | Details |
|---|---|
| Stronger Regulations | FSSAI applies stricter food safety standards. |
| Expansion of Processed Foods | More consumption demands added safety verification. |
| Adulteration Issues | Greater focus toward testing for prevention of adulteration. |
| Online Food Services Growth | Online shopping creates a demand for quality checks. |
The food safety testing services market is led by dominant players like Eurofins Scientific SE, SGS S.A., and Bureau Veritas S.A. Eurofins holds a significant market share, with a global network of over 900 laboratories, offering a wide range of testing services across various sectors. SGS, a Swiss-based company, operates in more than 2,600 offices and laboratories worldwide, providing comprehensive food safety solutions.
Bureau Veritas, headquartered in France, specializes in testing, inspection, and certification services across 140 countries. Key players such as Intertek Group plc, Mérieux NutriSciences, and ALS Limited also contribute significantly to the market. Emerging players like Neogen Corporation, Bio-Rad Laboratories, and AsureQuality Ltd. are expanding their global presence, focusing on innovative food safety solutions and addressing growing consumer demands for advanced testing services.
Leading Company: Eurofins Scientific SE
Market Share: 20%
Recent Food Safety Testing Industry News
The industry is segmented into allergen testing, chemical and nutritional testing, genetically modified organism testing, microbiological testing, residue and contamination testing, and others.
By application, the industry is segmented into meat, poultry and seafood products, dairy and dairy products, beverages, processed food, and cereals & grains.
Regionally, the industry is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa.
The industry is expected to reach USD 18.1 billion in 2025.
The industry is projected to reach USD 35.7 billion by 2035.
Key companies include Accugen Laboratories, Adpen Laboratories, Eurofins Scientific, Aegis Food Testing Laboratories (Vanguard Sciences), ALS Limited, Asureality Limited, Intertek Group plc, SGS SA, Avomeen Analytical Services, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Bureau Veritas SA, Campden BRI, and Det Norske Veritas AS (DNV).
China, slated to grow at 8.4% CAGR during the forecast period, is expected to see the fastest growth.
Microbiological testing is being widely used.
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Food Safety Testing Services Market
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