Abstract: The rapid development of China’s pre-prepared dish industry has created new opportunities for rural revitalization and the upgrading of the food industry. However, the safety regulation of pre-prepared dishes remains a major challenge facing the sector. By analyzing policy documents regarding food safety regulation in China, this paper traces the industry’s evolutionary process through four stages: policy inception, local exploration, national coordination, and norm refinement. Based on these policy documents and practical realities, this study analyzes the current regulatory dilemmas, characterized by the lack of a unified standard system, imperfect certification mechanisms, loopholes in traceability systems, and insufficient enforcement capacity. To address these issues, it is necessary to construct a whole-life-cycle​ legal path consisting of “pre-event standard-setting, in-process control, and post-event safeguard”. Specifically, the pre-event standard-setting stage requires unifying national quality standards for pre-prepared foods and establishing structured safety management system certifications; the in-process control stage necessitates introducing multi-stakeholder regulatory mechanisms and implementing corporate disclosure obligations; and the post-event safeguard stage should focus on building a national-level digital traceability platform and improving legal systems for rights protection, traceability, and sanctions. Through this whole-life-cycle legal governance path, a comprehensive solution for the safety regulation of pre-prepared dishes can be formed to safeguard consumer trust and achieve sustainable industry development.

Key words: pre-prepared dishes; food regulation; food safety; food law