China — Dietetic Foods, Food Supplements and Fortified Foods
China received 12 RASFF border-rejection notifications in Dietetic Foods, Food Supplements and Fortified Foods between 2023-Q3 and 2026-Q2. Volume peaked at 4 in 2025-Q4, with the trend rising sharply year-on-year. The most-cited issues are ethylene oxide, arsenic, and milk ingredient. The list below gives each of these 14 rejections by date and RASFF reference, with the country that notified it and the hazard found; 4 carry the laboratory result and 10 say what happened to the consignment.
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Key figures
If you import dietetic foods, food supplements and fortified foods from China
- Chance a consignment is opened at the EU border
- Not on the EU's increased-checks list, so only member states' routine, risk-based checks apply (rates not published).
- If it is rejected
- Re-dispatched 33%; held, final fate not recorded 25%; destroyed 17%; re-dispatched or destroyed 17%; not stated 8%. A re-dispatched lot can be sold elsewhere, a treated or sorted one can be released once it complies, and a destroyed one is lost.
- Where rejections happen
- Italy (2), Latvia (2), Poland (2), of 12 border rejections in the last 3 years.
- Riskiest months
- January, June, November, by rejections since 2020.
- Test for before shipping
- arsenic (1), ethylene oxide (1).
The EU does not publish how many consignments are shipped, so no page can state a true probability of rejection; these are the figures that are published.
Quarterly rejections, last 12 quarters
Show the numbers
| Quarter | Notifications |
|---|---|
| 2023-Q3 | 0 |
| 2023-Q4 | 0 |
| 2024-Q1 | 0 |
| 2024-Q2 | 0 |
| 2024-Q3 | 0 |
| 2024-Q4 | 0 |
| 2025-Q1 | 1 |
| 2025-Q2 | 1 |
| 2025-Q3 | 1 |
| 2025-Q4 | 4 |
| 2026-Q1 | 3 |
| 2026-Q2 | 2 |
Recent rejections
- 2026.5423 Przekroczenie NDP w suplementacie diety /// exceeding the MRL for ETO in food supplement from China Notified by Poland. Destroyed. Result 37.2 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). ethylene oxide
- 2026.5347 Arsenic in red yeast rice extract from China Notified by Croatia. Destroyed. Result 0,504. arsenic
- 2026.1026 Unauthorized substances and labeling non-compliances in food supplement from China Notified by Hungary. Re-dispatched or destroyed.
- 2026.0645 composite products containing dairy products from China Notified by Italy.
- 2026.0376 composite products containing dairy products from China Notified by Italy.
- 2025.9842 Unauthorised novel food ingredient Trametes versicolor in food supplement from China via United Kingdom Notified by Slovenia. Re-dispatched or destroyed.
- 2025.9015 Unauthorised novel food ingredient Eurycoma longifolia Jack (Tongkat Ali) in food supplements from China offered online for sale Notified by Slovenia.
- 2025.8833 unauthorized Novel Food Turkey Tail Trametes in food supplement from China Notified by Poland. Monitoring or surveillance sample.
- 2025.8735 Food supplements Liquid anti stress from China with unauthorized health claims. Notified by Latvia. Re-dispatched.
- 2025.7229 Improperly labeled food supplements (mushroom extracts) from China Notified by Lithuania. Monitoring or surveillance sample, re-dispatched.
- 2025.4203 Unauthorized novel food ingredients Coriolus versicolor in food supplements (capsule) Turkey Tail Extract from China Notified by Latvia. Re-dispatched.
- 2025.0621 Border rejection of food supplement Shilajit Resin from China Notified by Ireland. Re-dispatched.
- 2023.3573 Undeclared allergen (milk protein) in various food supplements from China Notified by Cyprus. Treated, sorted or diverted. Result 10157 (limit Undeclared allergen mg/kg - ppm). milk ingredient
- 2020.3257 unconformity in composition Notified by Slovenia. Destroyed. Result presence (limit 0 mg/kg - ppm). labellingtaurine
Found on the EU market: alerts and information notifications
Besides border rejections, 111 notifications since 2020 concerned dietetic foods, food supplements and fortified foods from China found after entering the EU — 35 alerts, 76 information notifications. They are not part of the rejection figures or rates above, which measure border controls.
How they were found: official control on the market 36%, company's own check 29%, other 22%, monitoring or surveillance sample 7%, consumer complaint or illness 6%. 23 led to a recall from consumers.
Show the numbers
| Year | Total | Alerts | Information notifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 16 | 10 | 6 |
| 2021 | 12 | 5 | 7 |
| 2022 | 17 | 7 | 10 |
| 2023 | 15 | 3 | 12 |
| 2024 | 11 | 2 | 9 |
| 2025 | 22 | 2 | 20 |
| 2026 to date | 18 | 6 | 12 |
- 2026.9526 info: attentionPancreatin in a food supplement from China Notified by Poland. Other, reached the market. not in catalogue
- 2026.9166 info: attentionOchratoxin A in food supplements from China Notified by Netherlands. Company's own check. ochratoxin A
- 2026.8676 alertArsénico en complemento alimenticio procedente de España, con materia prima de China//Arsenic in a food supplement from Spain with raw material from China Notified by Belgium. Official control on the market, reached the market. arsenic
- 2026.8379 info: attentionStwierdzenie niedozwolonego składnika (pieprzu metystynowego) w suplementach diety oferowanych on-line/// Prohibited ingredient (Piper methysticum) in food supplements offered online Notified by Poland. Other, reached the market. not in catalogue
- 2026.8184 info: attentionStwierdzenie niedozwolonego składnika (pankreatyny) w suplementach diety oferowanych on-line // Detection of a prohibited ingredient (pancreatin) in food supplements from China offered online. Notified by Poland. Other, reached the market. not in catalogue
- 2026.7926 info: attentionStwierdzenie niedozwolonego składnika (chlorowodorek johimbiny) w suplementach diety oferowanych on-line/// Identification of a prohibited ingredient (yohimbine hydrochloride) in food supplements offered online Notified by Poland. Other, reached the market. not in catalogue
- 2026.6040 info: follow-upUnotified food supplements from China via the Netherlands Notified by Italy. Official control on the market, reached the market.
- 2026.5502 alertMercurio por encima de límite legislado en complemento alimenticio procedente de España////Mercury above the legal limit in a food supplement from Spain Notified by Spain. Company's own check, reached the market, re-dispatched. Result 0.17 (limit 0.1 mg/kg - ppm). mercury
- 2026.5439 info: attentionEthylene oxide on food supplement from China Notified by Netherlands. Company's own check, reached the market. Result 1.3 (limit 0.06 mg/kg - ppm). ethylene oxide
- 2026.4524 alertPresencia de sildenafilo en complemento alimenticio procedente de China//Detection of sildenafil in a food supplement from China Notified by Spain. Monitoring or surveillance sample, reached the market, destroyed. Result > 1000µ (limit Ausencia null). sildenafil
Data and downloads
Download all 125 entries (CSV) — every notification behind this page, border rejections and those found on the market, with how each was found and what was done.
The file holds entries up to 2026-10-26. To get new ones for China by email, watch China.
China country report since 2020 — all notification types, not just border rejections →