Ethyl carbamate, a group 2A carcinogen, has been widely detected in fermented foods and its safety has drawn increasing attention. Many countries have established limits for ethyl carbamate in fermented foods. This article reviews the contamination situation of ethyl carbamate, systematically summarizes and compares the detection methods of ethyl carbamate reported in both domestic and international literature in recent years, including chromatography, spectroscopy, electrochemical sensor method, paper strip colorimetry, and immunoassay. Finally, this article proposes the future development directions of residual detection technology for ethyl carbamate in fermented foods.