Japan — Candy Without Chocolate, Candy Specialties, and Chewing Gum — Candy
Japan received 29 FDA import refusals in Candy, part of Candy Without Chocolate, Candy Specialties, and Chewing Gum between 2024-Q1 and 2026-Q4. Volume peaked at 8 in 2026-Q2, with the trend roughly flat year-on-year. The most-cited issues are unfit for food, unsafe color additive, and color not declared. Measured against US import value, that runs at 415.6 refusals per $1 billion of imports of this commodity from Japan over the last 3 years.
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Key figures
If you import candy from Japan
Above the median. Japan ranks 9th of 19 origins shipping candy to the US on refusals per $1 billion of US imports, at 415.6 — above 56% of them.
least riskmost risk
- Hazard or paperwork
- Of 31 refusals in the last 3 years, 24 were hazard findings and 7 paperwork alone.
- Refusals against import volume
- On average, 1 refusal per 212 tonnes imported into the US over the last 3 years; the 3rd highest refusal rate of 13 origins with enough import volume on record to rate (US import quantities 2022–2024, FAOSTAT).
- Where refusals happen
- DWCI — West Coast (15); DNEI — Northeast (8); DSWI — Southwest, the Mexican land border (4).
- Riskiest months
- April, May, March, by refusals since 2020.
- Test for before shipping
- unsafe color additive (13), unfit for food (11), foreign object (1).
- Paperwork to get right
- color not declared (8), not in English (6), label not conspicuous (1).
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 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2024-Q4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2025-Q1 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| 2025-Q2 | 7 | 5 | 2 |
| 2025-Q3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025-Q4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 2026-Q1 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 2026-Q2 | 8 | 8 | 0 |
| 2026-Q3 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 2026-Q4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Recent refusals
- 1FX-2581497-2 CANDY SPECIALTIES, N.E.C. (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DWCI. not in English
- 1FX-2767843-2 CANDY SPECIALTIES, N.E.C. (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DWCI. not in English
- 1FX-3376590-0 CANDY SPECIALTIES, N.E.C. (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DNBI. not in English
- U47-2513202-9 SOFT CANDY WITHOUT NUTS AND FRUIT, N.E.C. (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DNEI. unfit for food
- 235-1761530-0 GEL CUPS, FRUIT FLAVORED Import division DWCI. unfit for food
- U47-2508358-6 SOFT CANDY WITHOUT NUTS AND FRUIT, N.E.C. (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DNEI. unfit for food
- 235-1757991-0 GEL CUPS, FRUIT FLAVORED Import division DWCI. unfit for food
- 235-1750806-7 GEL CUPS, FRUIT FLAVORED Import division DNEI. unfit for foodunsafe color additive
- 235-1761036-8 GEL CUPS, FRUIT FLAVORED Import division DWCI. unfit for food
- 235-1760468-4 GEL CUPS, FRUIT FLAVORED Import division DWCI. unfit for food
- 235-1753403-0 GEL CUPS, FRUIT FLAVORED Import division DSWI. unfit for food
- 235-1752882-6 GEL CUPS, FRUIT FLAVORED Import division DNEI. unfit for food
- 235-1754681-0 GEL CUPS, FRUIT FLAVORED Import division DSWI. unfit for food
- 235-1751634-2 GEL CUPS, FRUIT FLAVORED Import division DSWI. label not conspicuousunfit for food
- 9ES-0095820-5 CHEWING GUM (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DNEI. unsafe color additive
- HG4-1035281-6 JELLIED CANDY, SOFT (JELLY BEANS, GUM DROPS, ETC.), WITHOUT NUTS AND FRUIT (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DWCI. unsafe color additivecolor not declared
- 235-1743285-4 JELLIED CANDY, SOFT (JELLY BEANS, GUM DROPS, ETC.), WITHOUT NUTS AND FRUIT (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DWCI. unsafe color additivecolor not declared
- 235-1742317-6 FLAVORED CANDY, HARD (LIVE SAVERS, ETC.), WITHOUT NUTS AND FRUIT (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DWCI. unsafe color additivecolor not declared
- 235-1741542-0 JELLIED CANDY, SOFT (JELLY BEANS, GUM DROPS, ETC.), WITHOUT NUTS AND FRUIT (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DWCI. color not declared
- AC1-1254303-1 GEL CUPS, FRUIT FLAVORED Import division DSWI. foreign object
Data and downloads
Download all 83 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 2026-10-06. To get new ones for Japan by email, watch Japan.
Japan country report since 2020 — every refusal by year, charge and import division →