Advancing food innovation for a healthier future

Consumers worldwide are seeking healthier and more sustainable food options in response to rising health concerns such as obesity, diabetes and chronic disease. This shift is driving greater demand for sugar reduction, clean-label ingredients and functional foods that support long-term wellness. To meet these growing expectations, food and ingredient manufacturers are embracing innovation, while maintaining the highest standards of safety, quality and regulatory compliance. 

Finding the right lab with a strong reputation to support and meet the regulatory requirements to reach the market efficiently has never been more critical. Meeting these challenges demands an experienced scientific and regulatory partner.

Labcorp partners with global developers and manufacturers to help bring novel food products to market by offering quality and comprehensive human safety testing across physical chemistry, metabolism and toxicology. With deep scientific expertise and a global regulatory perspective, we support food innovation that is grounded in safety, efficiency and consumer trust.

Science that powers smarter, safer ingredients 

At Labcorp, our mission is to improve health and improve lives. In the novel food space, that means helping you turn new ingredients, methods and technologies into safe, science-backed products that promote better nutrition and public health. 

Whether you are developing a novel sweetener, flavour enhancer, plant-based protein, enzyme or fermented compound, Labcorp provides the scientific and regulatory support to guide your product from its earliest stages of development through to regulatory submission.

Comprehensive support for novel food development 

Labcorp offers testing solutions tailored to the unique challenges of novel food innovation, from early-stage ingredient characterisation to global regulatory strategy optimisation. Our full suite of services includes: 

• Toxicology testing 
  Evaluate safety and tolerability with in vitro and in vivo studies, including genotoxicity, subchronic toxicity and reproductive/developmental toxicity. 
• Metabolism testing 
  Analyse the safety of your ingredient and product with in vitro and in vivo ADME studies, such as digestibility and toxicokinetics. 

• Analytical chemistry and bioanalysis 
  Characterise ingredients, assess stability and quantify bioavailability with advanced analytical methods. 

• Regulatory required in vivo & in vitro models and New Approach Methods (NAMs) options
  Leverage models that simulate human digestion, absorption, and metabolism to support safety claims and utilise in vitro alternatives where possible to generate robust data and insights. 
• Tailored study design 
  Optimise studies that align with your product’s intended use, target population and regulatory requirements. 
• End-to-end programme management 
  From early development to regulatory submission, our integrated teams help streamline timelines and reduce risk. 
• Regulatory consulting support services
  Leverage our regulatory support services to assist with FDA GRAS mandated scientific and peer-reviewed publication preparation, privacy compliance with redactions, manuscript support and other related services.  

Find out more about human safety testing requirements to gain regulatory approval for your novel food, food additive or food improvement agent on our website.