Mexico — Soft Drinks and Waters — Soft-Drinks
Mexico received 44 FDA import refusals in Soft-Drinks, part of Soft Drinks and Waters between 2024-Q1 and 2026-Q4. Volume peaked at 13 in 2024-Q3, with the trend falling sharply year-on-year. The most-cited issues are unsafe color additive, color not declared, and nutrition labeling. Measured against US import value, that runs at 15.8 refusals per $1 billion of imports of this commodity from Mexico over the last 3 years.
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Key figures
If you import soft-drinks from Mexico
Lower risk. Mexico ranks 10th of 11 origins shipping soft-drinks to the US on refusals per $1 billion of US imports, at 15.8 — above 10% of them.
least riskmost risk
- Hazard or paperwork
- Of 47 refusals in the last 3 years, 33 were hazard findings and 14 paperwork alone.
- Refusals against import volume
- On average, 1 refusal per 52,528 tonnes imported into the US over the last 3 years; the lowest refusal rate of 6 origins with enough import volume on record to rate (US import quantities 2022–2024, FAOSTAT).
- Where refusals happen
- DSWI — Southwest, the Mexican land border (46); DSEI — Southeast (1).
- Riskiest months
- May, July, August, by refusals since 2020.
- Test for before shipping
- unsafe color additive (26), poisonous or deleterious substance (5), unsafe food additive (3), undeclared allergen (2), filth (1).
- Paperwork to get right
- color not declared (23), nutrition labeling (16), not in English (11).
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 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 2024-Q2 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 2024-Q3 | 13 | 11 | 2 |
| 2024-Q4 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| 2025-Q1 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025-Q2 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 2025-Q3 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| 2025-Q4 | 5 | 2 | 3 |
| 2026-Q1 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 2026-Q2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2026-Q3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 2026-Q4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Recent refusals
- BJG-0224910-9 SOFT DRINK, CORE FRUIT FLAVORED, CARBONATED Import division DSWI. FSVP violation
- BJG-0222031-6 SOFT DRINK, SUBTROPICAL OR TROPICAL FRUIT FLAVORED, CARBONATED Import division DSWI. unsafe color additivecolor not declarednutrition labeling
- BJG-0220625-7 SOFT DRINK, CITRUS FRUIT FLAVORED, CARBONATED Import division DSWI. not in English
- BJG-0219375-2 SOFT DRINK, SUBTROPICAL OR TROPICAL FRUIT FLAVORED, NONCARBONATED Import division DSWI. filth
- NDA-0009081-7 SOFT DRINK, OTHER FRUIT FLAVORED, CARBONATED Import division DSWI. unsafe color additivecolor not declared
- BJG-0210211-8 SOFT DRINK, SUBTROPICAL OR TROPICAL FRUIT FLAVORED, CARBONATED Import division DSWI. unsafe color additivecolor not declared
- BJG-0206904-4 SOFT DRINK, SUBTROPICAL OR TROPICAL FRUIT FLAVORED, CARBONATED Import division DSWI. unsafe color additivecolor not declared
- NDA-0006987-8 NONALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, N.E.C. Import division DSWI. false or misleading labelnot in Englishnutrition labeling
- BJG-0202447-8 SOFT DRINK, CITRUS FRUIT FLAVORED, CARBONATED Import division DSWI. unsafe color additivecolor not declared
- BJG-0200290-4 NONCARBONATED SOFT DRINK, N.E.C. Import division DSWI. label not conspicuousunapproved new drug
- DR4-0664571-0 BOTTLED WATER Import division DSWI. ingredients not listednutrition labeling
- BJG-0202593-9 SOFT DRINK, SUBTROPICAL OR TROPICAL FRUIT FLAVORED, CARBONATED Import division DSWI. unsafe color additive
- BJG-0196962-4 SOFT DRINK, CORE FRUIT FLAVORED, CARBONATED Import division DSWI. unsafe color additivecolor not declared
- BJG-0196074-8 SOFT DRINK, OTHER FRUIT FLAVORED, CARBONATED Import division DSWI. unsafe color additivecolor not declared
- BJG-0195975-7 SOFT DRINK, IMITATION FRUIT FLAVORED, CARBONATED Import division DSWI. unsafe color additivecolor not declared
- BJG-0194384-3 MINERAL WATER, CARBONATED WATER (NONMEDICINAL) Import division DSWI. no net quantitynutrition labelingingredients not listedno manufacturer name+3 more
- BJG-0193794-4 MINERAL WATER WITH FRUIT FLAVOR, CARBONATED WATER (NONMEDICINAL) Import division DSWI. not in English
- BJG-0190110-6 SOFT DRINK, IMITATION FRUIT FLAVORED, CARBONATED Import division DSWI. unsafe color additivecolor not declared
- 8MH-0104414-4 SOFT DRINK, COLA, CARBONATED Import division DSWI. ingredients not listedlabel not conspicuousnutrition labeling
- BJG-0185421-4 SOFT DRINK, SUBTROPICAL OR TROPICAL FRUIT FLAVORED, CARBONATED Import division DSWI. ingredients not listedlabel not conspicuousnot in Englishlabeling+4 more
Data and downloads
Download all 135 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 2026-10-16. To get new ones for Mexico by email, watch Mexico.
Mexico country report since 2020 — every refusal by year, charge and import division →