Abstract:

The safety of Chinese exported food products plays a significant role in establishing a positive world-wide
reputation of products made in China, and it is also critical for Chinese food products to enter the international market
place. Based on the rapid alert system for food and feed (RASFF) database, an exchange information tool on risk measures
related to food and feed controls, this paper analyzes 2 409 notifications on Chinese exported food products for food safety
issues between 2008 and 2012 in terms of notifications types, notification classifications, notification bases, EU member
states, product categories, product origins and hazard categories. The number of notifications on food products from China
accounts for a high proportion of the total number of notifications (14.47%). Border rejection accounts for the largest
proportion among all types of notifications. Italy, Germany and UK are the top three member states that have made the most
notifications. The top three most notified product categories are food contact materials, nuts, nut products and seeds, and
cereals and bakery products. The major risks causing notifications are migration, mycotoxins and heavy metals. This paper
intends to present a general picture of the safety of Chinese food products exported to the European Union (EU) and provide
some suggestions to food safety researchers and administers.

Key words: rapid alert system for food and feed (RASFF), food safety, food risks, empirical analysis