Brazil: FDA food import refusals, 2020–2025
← all origin reports · Brazil: refusals and rates, last 3 years →
Brazil was the origin of 232 of 22,156 US food import refusals in 2020–2025 (1.0%), ranking 19th of 146 origins. 62% were hazard findings and 38% paperwork alone. 30% concerned fishery/seafood products; the most-cited safety charge was filth, and the most-cited paperwork charge nutrition labeling.
Every US food import refusal naming Brazil as origin, 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2025. A refusal is one import entry, however many product lines it carried. Download every table (CSV).
Exporting from Brazil? Get an email when shipments from Brazil are refused at the US border — before your buyers ask.
One email a week, and only when something matches. We'll send a confirmation link first; unsubscribe any time from the footer of any email.
By year
| Year | Refusals | Share of US total | Rank among origins |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 36 | 1.3% | 17 |
| 2021 | 35 | 1.2% | 13 |
| 2022 | 44 | 1.3% | 13 |
| 2023 | 35 | 1.0% | 19 |
| 2024 | 28 | 0.7% | 28 |
| 2025 | 54 | 1.0% | 20 |
| 2020–2025 | 232 | 1.0% | 19 |
Year links open that year's refusals, entry by entry.
Tables below show each year 2020–2025; cells are shaded against their row's own peak. Change compares 2025 with 2020 and is shown only where 2020 had at least 10 refusals ("new" where it had none).
Hazard or paperwork
A refusal is a hazard finding when any of its charges is a safety one — filth, pathogens, residues, contaminants, unsafe additives — and paperwork when every charge is labelling, registration or a missing filing. One citing only charge codes FDA has not published is unclassified.
| Year | Hazard findings | Paperwork only | Unclassified | Hazard share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 26 | 10 | 0 | 72.2% |
| 2021 | 28 | 7 | 0 | 80.0% |
| 2022 | 31 | 13 | 0 | 70.5% |
| 2023 | 23 | 12 | 0 | 65.7% |
| 2024 | 17 | 11 | 0 | 60.7% |
| 2025 | 20 | 34 | 0 | 37.0% |
| 2020–2025 | 145 | 87 | 0 | 62.5% |
By industry
| FDA industry | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2020–2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fishery/Seafood Products | 20 | 20 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 69 (29.7%) | −85% |
| Vitamins, Minerals, Proteins, and Unconventional Dietary Specialties for Humans | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 19 | 39 (16.8%) | — |
| Fruit and Fruit Products | 3 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 25 (10.8%) | — |
| Candy Without Chocolate, Candy Specialties, and Chewing Gum rates → Candy |
2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 23 (9.9%) | — |
| Spices, Flavors, and Salts | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 18 (7.8%) | — |
| Whole Grains, Milled Grain Products, and Starch rates → Grains-starch-other · Rice · Wheat |
2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 15 (6.5%) | — |
| Vegetables and Vegetable Products rates → Vegetables-other |
0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 (3.9%) | — |
| Milk, Butter, and Dried Milk Products | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 (2.6%) | — |
| Bakery Products, Doughs, Bakery Mixes, and Icings rates → Bakery |
2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 (2.2%) | — |
| Color Additives for Foods, Drugs, and Cosmetics | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 (1.7%) | — |
| Chocolate and Cocoa Products | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 (1.3%) | — |
| Snack Food Items (Flour, Meal, or Vegetable Base) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 (1.3%) | — |
| Soft Drinks and Waters | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 (1.3%) | — |
| Dietary Conventional Foods and Meal Replacements | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 (0.9%) | new |
| Baby (Infant and Junior) Food Products | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 (0.4%) | — |
| Beverage Bases | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0.4%) | — |
| Cereal Preparations, Breakfast Foods | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0.4%) | — |
| Coffee and Tea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0.4%) | — |
| Food Additives - for Human Use | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0.4%) | — |
| Food Sweeteners (Nutritive) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 (0.4%) | — |
| Ice Cream and Related Products | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0.4%) | — |
| Nuts and Edible Seeds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0.4%) | — |
By charge group
A refusal citing charges in two groups counts once in each, so rows can add up to more than the total.
| Charge group | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2020–2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filth and insanitary conditions (hazard) | 21 | 20 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 71 (30.6%) | −71% |
| Labelling (paperwork) | 11 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 9 | 11 | 69 (29.7%) | +0% |
| Process and registration (paperwork) | 4 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 32 | 55 (23.7%) | — |
| Salmonella (hazard) | 0 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 26 (11.2%) | — |
| Pesticide residues (hazard) | 1 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 21 (9.1%) | — |
| Undeclared allergens (hazard) | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 15 (6.5%) | — |
| Unsafe additives (hazard) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 (3.4%) | — |
| Contaminants (hazard) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 (2.2%) | — |
| Histamine (hazard) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (0.9%) | — |
Most-cited charges
FDA's own charge codes, with a plain-English label. Each is counted once per refusal.
Safety charges
| Charge | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2020–2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
filth FILTHY |
21 | 20 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 68 | −86% |
Salmonella SALMONELLA |
0 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 26 | — |
pesticide residue PESTICIDE |
1 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 21 | — |
undeclared allergen ALLERGEN |
4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 15 | — |
unsafe color additive UNSAFE COL |
0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | — |
poisonous or deleterious substance POISONOUS |
0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | — |
refused establishment inspection REFUSE EI |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | new |
histamine HISTAMINE |
2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — |
lead PB-FOOD |
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | — |
unsafe food additive UNSAFE ADD |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | — |
Paperwork charges
| Charge | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2020–2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
nutrition labeling NUTRIT LBL |
9 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 6 | 6 | 45 | — |
not in English NO ENGLISH |
7 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 33 | — |
unapproved new drug UNAPPROVED |
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 19 | 31 | — |
ingredients not listed LIST INGRE |
7 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 19 | — |
no process filing NO PROCESS |
2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 14 | — |
no net quantity LACKS N/C |
2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 12 | — |
no food-canning registration NEEDS FCE |
2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | — |
labeling LABELING |
0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 9 | — |
label not conspicuous INCONSPICU |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | — |
no manufacturer name LACKS FIRM |
2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | — |
By month
Pooled across 2020–2025. Each row is shaded against its own peak, so its season shows whatever its size. Hazard findings peak in January; Paperwork only peak in July.
Hazard or paperwork
| Kind | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hazard findings | 19 | 12 | 16 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 9 | January |
| Paperwork only | 6 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 4 | July |
By charge group
| Charge group | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filth and insanitary conditions | 9 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | January |
| Labelling | 5 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 3 | August |
| Process and registration | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 3 | July |
| Salmonella | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | June |
| Pesticide residues | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | January |
Import divisions
The FDA division that handled the entry. DSWI and DNBI are the Mexican and Canadian land borders, so this says as much about the route as about the product.
| Division | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2020–2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DSEI — Southeast | 15 | 24 | 34 | 20 | 16 | 30 | 139 | +100% |
| DNEI — Northeast | 19 | 11 | 6 | 11 | 11 | 22 | 80 | +16% |
| DNBI — North Border, the Canadian land border | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | — |
| DSWI — Southwest, the Mexican land border | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | — |
| DWCI — West Coast | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | — |
Method
- Source: FDA Import Refusal Report (U.S. Food and Drug Administration); every food import refusal dated 2020–2025.
- Counts are import entries, not product lines. A refusal naming several origins counts once for each, so origin shares can add up to more than 100%.
- Charge groups are this site's grouping of FDA's charge codes; a code belongs to the first group that claims it, the same rule as the hazard pages.
- A charge is what FDA cited to refuse the entry, often on appearance or documents rather than a laboratory result. Counts depend on how often each product is examined, so they are not a rate of unsafe food.
- Licence: CC-BY-4.0. Cite as "Brazil: FDA food import refusals, 2020–2025", fruit-risk.com, 2026-09-20, https://fdair.fruit-risk.com/reports/brazil.html.
All origins together ·Italy · United States · Colombia · All origin reports