Mexico — Candy Without Chocolate, Candy Specialties, and Chewing Gum — Candy
Mexico received 124 FDA import refusals in Candy, part of Candy Without Chocolate, Candy Specialties, and Chewing Gum between 2024-Q1 and 2026-Q4. Volume peaked at 25 in 2026-Q3, with the trend roughly flat year-on-year. The most-cited issues are filth, nutrition labeling, and unsafe color additive. Measured against US import value, that runs at 36.5 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 candy from Mexico
Lower risk. Mexico ranks 17th of 19 origins shipping candy to the US on refusals per $1 billion of US imports, at 36.5 — above 11% of them.
least riskmost risk
- Hazard or paperwork
- Of 137 refusals in the last 3 years, 120 were hazard findings and 17 paperwork alone.
- Refusals against import volume
- On average, 1 refusal per 7,943 tonnes imported into the US over the last 3 years; the 10th highest refusal rate of 13 origins with enough import volume on record to rate (US import quantities 2022–2024, FAOSTAT).
- Where refusals happen
- DSWI — Southwest, the Mexican land border (128); DSEI — Southeast (5); DNBI — North Border, the Canadian land border (2).
- Riskiest months
- April, November, July, by refusals since 2020.
- Test for before shipping
- filth (60), unsafe color additive (47), poisonous or deleterious substance (6), aflatoxin (3), foreign object (2).
- Paperwork to get right
- color not declared (42), nutrition labeling (23), not in English (17).
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 | 11 | 9 | 2 |
| 2024-Q2 | 11 | 9 | 2 |
| 2024-Q3 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| 2024-Q4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 2025-Q1 | 12 | 11 | 1 |
| 2025-Q2 | 12 | 12 | 0 |
| 2025-Q3 | 7 | 6 | 1 |
| 2025-Q4 | 14 | 14 | 0 |
| 2026-Q1 | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| 2026-Q2 | 15 | 13 | 2 |
| 2026-Q3 | 25 | 19 | 6 |
| 2026-Q4 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
Recent refusals
- NQD-1256776-8 CANDY WITHOUT CHOCOLATE N.E.C. Import division DNEI. filth
- ANG-0099265-2 CANDY SPECIALTIES, N.E.C. (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DSWI. unsafe food additive
- 9L9-0254322-7 CANDY SPECIALTIES, N.E.C. (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DSWI. undeclared allergenlabelingnutrition labeling
- EEE-0104266-1 CHEWING GUM (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DSWI. unsafe color additiveingredients not listedlabel not conspicuouscolor not declared+5 more
- 392-0263040-4 CARAMEL CANDY PIECES, SOFT, WITH NUTS OR NUT PRODUCTS (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DSWI. mycotoxin
- ANG-0099420-3 CANDY SPECIALTIES, N.E.C. (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DSWI. ingredients not listedlabel not conspicuousno manufacturer name
- BJG-0221598-5 CANDY SPECIALTIES, N.E.C. (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DSWI. labelingnutrition labeling
- BPI-0264491-6 CANDY SPECIALTIES, N.E.C. (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DSWI. filth
- NB8-0221641-7 SOFT CANDY WITHOUT NUTS AND FRUIT, N.E.C. (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DSWI. ingredients not listedlabel not conspicuous
- 9L9-0254396-1 CANDY SPECIALTIES, N.E.C. (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DSWI. FSVP violation
- 918-5447315-3 CANDY SPECIALTIES, N.E.C. (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DSWI. unsafe color additivecolor not declared
- N56-0051318-2 CANDY SPECIALTIES, N.E.C. (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DNEI. unsafe color additivecolor not declarednot in EnglishFD&C Yellow No. 5 undeclared
- BJG-0220348-6 CANDY SPECIALTIES, N.E.C. (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DSWI. labelingnutrition labeling
- EFP-2608016-3 CANDY SPECIALTIES, N.E.C. (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DSWI. filth
- SCS-9330063-7 CARAMEL CANDY PIECES, HARD, WITH FRUIT (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DSEI. filth
- BJG-0218113-8 CANDY SPECIALTIES, N.E.C. (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DSWI. filth
- BJG-0217362-2 CANDY SPECIALTIES, N.E.C. (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DSWI. label not conspicuousfalse or misleading labelnutrition labelingno food-canning registration+1 more
- NDA-0009270-6 LOLLIPOP (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DSWI. unsafe color additivecolor not declared
- AMH-0035575-3 CANDY SPECIALTIES, N.E.C. (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DSWI. filth
- 02K-0000269-5 CANDY SPECIALTIES, N.E.C. (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE) Import division DSWI. filthcolor not declaredunsafe color additive
Data and downloads
Download all 288 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 2026-10-22. To get new ones for Mexico by email, watch Mexico.
Mexico country report since 2020 — every refusal by year, charge and import division →