Ecolab's 2025 Report: Foodborne Illnesses & Safety Standards

Ecolab has published its 2025 Growth & Impact Report, with findings indicating that business performance and environmental responsibility must advance in parallel to address global resource constraints.

The company operates in more than 170 countries, providing water treatment, hygiene and infection-prevention solutions through scientific methods and digital monitoring systems.

Ecolab's 48,000 associates support the strategy to protect essential resources and enable customer operations in food production, beverage manufacturing and foodservice to maintain safety standards and operational efficiency.

The approach aims to separate economic expansion from resource consumption, creating sustained outcomes for communities, ecosystems and financial stakeholders.

Water management for food processors

The food and beverage sector depends on consistent water quality for production lines, cleaning systems and cooling operations.

Ecolab's 3D TRASAR technology provides continuous water quality monitoring to help manufacturing facilities maintain hygiene standards while reducing consumption.

The company says it helped customers avoid water use equivalent to the annual drinking needs of 849 million people in 2025.

New water management protocols combine direct monitoring with predictive analytics to support operations in regions where freshwater availability could limit production capacity.

Ecolab has set a target to improve water use efficiency by 40% across its customer base.

The food industry faces particular pressure as global freshwater supplies could fall short of demand by 56% by 2030, according to projections cited in the report.

"Water is the foundation of life and business," says Christophe Beck, Chairman, President and CEO at Ecolab.

"We cannot create more water, but we can reimagine how we use it. Companies that act decisively, apply proven solutions and work in partnership will lead the next era of growth."

Energy reduction in food operations

Food manufacturers and commercial kitchens use huge amounts of energy for refrigeration, cooking, cleaning and sanitation.

Ecolab provides low-temperature laundry systems and cleaning programmes designed to reduce energy consumption without compromising food safety standards.

In 2025, the company helped customers avoid 4.7 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions through verified eROI methodologies, according to the report.

Within its own facilities, Ecolab has reduced absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 44% from a 2018 baseline.

The company now sources 92% of its operational electricity from renewable sources, including geothermal systems and solar installations.

These measures support Ecolab's target to cut operational emissions by 50% by 2030 while working toward net zero emissions.

By 2030, the company aims to:

• Support customers in helping prevent nearly 10 million pollution-induced illnesses by reducing GHG emissions by six million tonnes.
• Cut operational emissions by 50%.
• Power 100% of global operations with renewable electricity.
• Reduce value chain emissions by 25%.

"At Ecolab, we help customers succeed in a challenging environment by making their operations smarter, more resilient and more productive, turning resource complexity into enterprise value," says Emilio Tenuta, Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer at Ecolab, in the company's 2025 Growth & Impact Report.

"Our 2030 Customer Impact Goals reflect that discipline."

Food safety and hygiene protocols

Maintaining sanitation standards is essential for food manufacturers, restaurant chains and beverage producers to prevent contamination and protect brand integrity.

Ecolab's service teams work to help protect more than one-third of global food production through hygiene and infection prevention programmes.

The company reports its interventions helped protect 1.7 billion people from foodborne illnesses and infections in 2025. Ecolab has established a goal to increase this figure to two billion people by 2030.

Specialised cleaning and disinfection protocols are deployed across food processing plants, commercial kitchens and foodservice facilities to maintain compliance with international safety regulations.

These systems provide continuous monitoring to ensure production environments remain within required cleanliness parameters.

"Ecolab helped protect 1.7 billion people from foodborne illnesses and infections and conserve enough water to meet the drinking needs of 849 million people," says Christophe.

"Yet by 2030, the world is projected to face a 56% freshwater shortfall, even before accounting for new demand driven by AI, data centers and advanced manufacturing."

Packaging reduction for food products

Ecolab has integrated circular economy principles into product design to reduce material use and waste generation across food industry supply chains.

The company's packaging modifications helped avoid 36 million pounds of packaging waste in 2025, according to the report.

The ReadyDose system uses concentrated solid tablets for cleaning and sanitation in food facilities. This format reduces plastic packaging waste by 98.8% compared to equivalent liquid products used in commercial kitchens and processing plants.

Ecolab reports that substances of very high concern represented only 0.2% of its annual revenue in 2025.

The company is transitioning toward renewable raw materials and post-consumer recycled resin in formulations used across food production and foodservice applications.

Supply chain standards for food sectors

Ecolab maintains relationships with more than 17,300 suppliers globally to deliver hygiene and water treatment solutions to food industry customers.

The company requires 100% of direct suppliers to comply with a Supplier Code of Conduct covering labour practices, human rights and environmental standards.

The company has established a 2030 target to reduce absolute Scope 3 value chain emissions by 25% from a 2022 baseline.

In 2025, Ecolab spent US$533m with certified underrepresented suppliers to support innovation and economic development in local communities.

According to the report, 90% of purchases are made within local operating markets to strengthen supply chain resilience and reduce transportation-related resource use.

This approach helps food industry customers get consistent access to sanitation products and technical support across their distributed production facilities.