China — Soft Drinks and Waters — Soft-Drinks
China received 19 FDA import refusals in Soft-Drinks, part of Soft Drinks and Waters between 2024-Q1 and 2026-Q4. Volume peaked at 4 in 2025-Q4, with the trend falling year-on-year. The most-cited issues are melamine, unsafe color additive, and color not declared. Measured against US import value, that runs at 252.9 refusals per $1 billion of imports of this commodity from China over the last 3 years.
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Key figures
If you import soft-drinks from China
Higher risk. China ranks 2nd of 11 origins shipping soft-drinks to the US on refusals per $1 billion of US imports, at 252.9 — above 90% of them.
least riskmost risk
- Hazard or paperwork
- Of 20 refusals in the last 3 years, 18 were hazard findings and 2 paperwork alone.
- Refusals against import volume
- On average, 1 refusal per 4,763 tonnes imported into the US over the last 3 years; the 3rd highest refusal rate of 6 origins with enough import volume on record to rate (US import quantities 2022–2024, FAOSTAT).
- Where refusals happen
- DNEI — Northeast (10); DWCI — West Coast (8); DNBI — North Border, the Canadian land border (2).
- Riskiest months
- June, July, January, by refusals since 2020.
- Test for before shipping
- melamine (13), unsafe color additive (4), poisonous or deleterious substance (3), unfit for food (3), undeclared allergen (2).
- Paperwork to get right
- color not declared (4), no net quantity (4), no process filing (4).
FDA does not publish how many entries it examines, so no page can state a true probability of refusal; these are the figures that are published.
Quarterly refusals, last 12 quarters
Show the numbers
| Quarter | Refusals | Hazard | Paperwork |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-Q1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024-Q2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024-Q3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024-Q4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025-Q1 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 2025-Q2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 2025-Q3 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025-Q4 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| 2026-Q1 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 2026-Q2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2026-Q3 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 2026-Q4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Recent refusals
- K09-0100544-5 SOFT DRINK, PIT FRUIT FLAVORED, NONCARBONATED Import division DNEI. FSVP violation
- 9DH-0081684-8 CARBONATED SOFT DRINK, N.E.C. Import division DNBI. unsafe color additivecolor not declared
- W69-5230207-4 SOFT DRINKS AND WATERS NOT MENTIONED ELSEWHERE, N.E.C. Import division DWCI. unsafe color additiveingredients not listedlabel not conspicuouscolor not declared+2 more
- 9DH-0080671-6 CARBONATED SOFT DRINK, N.E.C. Import division DNBI. color not declarednot in Englishunsafe color additiveno standard name+1 more
- KX2-0089413-0 NONCARBONATED SOFT DRINK, N.E.C. Import division DNEI. melamine
- EVR-0176171-2 CARBONATED SOFT DRINK, N.E.C. Import division DWCI. melamine
- NMR-6744482-6 NONCARBONATED SOFT DRINK, N.E.C. Import division DNEI. melamine
- 300-3285297-5 SOFT DRINK, MILK BASED (CHOCOLATE FLAVORED, ETC.), NONCARBONATED Import division DNEI. melamine
- NYJ-0012305-6 SOFT DRINKS AND WATERS NOT MENTIONED ELSEWHERE, N.E.C. Import division DWCI. melamine
- EVR-0170793-9 NONCARBONATED SOFT DRINK, N.E.C. Import division DWCI. melamine
- U47-2511977-8 NONCARBONATED SOFT DRINK, N.E.C. Import division DNEI. filth
- K09-0096857-7 NONCARBONATED SOFT DRINK, N.E.C. Import division DNEI. no manufacturer nameno net quantityjuice percentage not declared
- 224-4564032-3 NONCARBONATED SOFT DRINK, N.E.C. Import division DWCI. melamine
- 349-2070487-0 CARBONATED SOFT DRINK, N.E.C. Import division DWCI. melamineno process filingingredients not listedflavor not declared+6 more
- 349-2070804-6 CARBONATED SOFT DRINK, N.E.C. Import division DNEI. melamine
- U47-2502025-7 NONCARBONATED SOFT DRINK, N.E.C. Import division DWCI. false or misleading labelnutrition labelingno process filingpoisonous or deleterious substance+4 more
- 8BL-0028461-7 NONCARBONATED SOFT DRINK, N.E.C. Import division DWCI. melamine
- K09-0094541-9 SOFT DRINK, MILK BASED (CHOCOLATE FLAVORED, ETC.), NONCARBONATED Import division DNEI. cyclamateno net quantityno common nameinadequate process control+7 more
- B5Q-0006312-2 SOFT DRINK, MILK BASED (CHOCOLATE FLAVORED, ETC.), NONCARBONATED Import division DNEI. poisonous or deleterious substancemelamineunfit for foodpesticide residue+5 more
- NFT-2031281-4 SOFT DRINK, IMITATION FRUIT FLAVORED, CARBONATED Import division DNEI. refused establishment inspection
Data and downloads
Download all 30 entries (CSV) — every refusal behind this page, with its import division, FDA product code, charges and whether it was a hazard finding or paperwork.
The file holds entries up to 2026-10-14. To get new ones for China by email, watch China.
China country report since 2020 — every refusal by year, charge and import division →