Germany: FDA food import refusals, 2020–2025
← All origin reports Germany: refusals and rates, last 3 years →
Germany was the origin of 141 of 22,158 US food import refusals in 2020–2025 (0.6%), ranking 32nd of 146 origins. 18% were hazard findings and 82% paperwork alone. 37% concerned baby (infant and junior) food products; the most-cited safety charge was pesticide residue, and the most-cited paperwork charge not in English.
Every US food import refusal naming Germany 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).
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By year
| Year | Refusals | Share of US total | Rank among origins |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 17 | 0.6% | 29 |
| 2021 | 17 | 0.6% | 29 |
| 2022 | 20 | 0.6% | 30 |
| 2023 | 16 | 0.5% | 38 |
| 2024 | 27 | 0.7% | 31 |
| 2025 | 44 | 0.8% | 23 |
| 2020–2025 | 141 | 0.6% | 32 |
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 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 29.4% |
| 2021 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 17.6% |
| 2022 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 35.0% |
| 2023 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 37.5% |
| 2024 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 2025 | 5 | 39 | 0 | 11.4% |
| 2020–2025 | 26 | 115 | 0 | 18.4% |
By industry
| FDA industry | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2020–2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baby (Infant and Junior) Food Products rates → | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 52 (36.9%) | — |
| Vitamins, Minerals, Proteins, and Unconventional Dietary Specialties for Humans rates → Herbals-botanicals, Supplements |
3 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 15 | 41 (29.1%) | — |
| Coffee and Tea | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 11 (7.8%) | — |
| Dietary Conventional Foods and Meal Replacements | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 (5.7%) | — |
| Fruit and Fruit Products | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 (5.7%) | — |
| Bakery Products, Doughs, Bakery Mixes, and Icings | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 (3.5%) | — |
| Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 (2.8%) | — |
| Candy Without Chocolate, Candy Specialties, and Chewing Gum rates → Candy |
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 (2.1%) | — |
| Snack Food Items (Flour, Meal, or Vegetable Base) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (1.4%) | — |
| Spices, Flavors, and Salts | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 (1.4%) | — |
| Chocolate and Cocoa Products | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0.7%) | — |
| Fishery/Seafood Products | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0.7%) | — |
| Milk, Butter, and Dried Milk Products | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0.7%) | — |
| Nuts and Edible Seeds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 (0.7%) | new |
| Vegetable Protein Products (Simulated Meats) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0.7%) | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labelling (paperwork) | 10 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 22 | 26 | 88 (62.4%) | +160% |
| Process and registration (paperwork) | 5 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 41 (29.1%) | — |
| Pesticide residues (hazard) | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 12 (8.5%) | — |
| Unsafe additives (hazard) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 (2.8%) | — |
| Filth and insanitary conditions (hazard) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 (2.1%) | — |
| Undeclared allergens (hazard) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 (1.4%) | — |
| Salmonella (hazard) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 (1.4%) | — |
| Contaminants (hazard) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0.7%) | — |
| Listeria monocytogenes (hazard) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0.7%) | — |
| Mycotoxins (hazard) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 (0.7%) | new |
| Other charges (no group) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 (0.7%) | new |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
pesticide residue PESTICIDE |
4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 12 | — |
filth FILTHY |
0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | — |
undeclared allergen ALLERGEN |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — |
Salmonella SALMONELLA |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | — |
unsafe color additive UNSAFE COL |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — |
aflatoxin AFLATOXIN |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | new |
Listeria monocytogenes LISTERIA |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | — |
lead PB-FOOD |
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | — |
unsafe food additive UNSAFE ADD |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | — |
unsafe dietary ingredient UNSFDIETSP |
0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | — |
Paperwork charges
| Charge | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2020–2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
not in English NO ENGLISH |
2 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 15 | 15 | 49 | — |
nutrition labeling NUTRIT LBL |
6 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 34 | — |
no net quantity LACKS N/C |
4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 31 | — |
unapproved new drug UNAPPROVED |
5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 23 | — |
false or misleading label FALSE |
2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 22 | — |
no manufacturer name LACKS FIRM |
4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 14 | — |
ingredients not listed LIST INGRE |
4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 13 | — |
label not conspicuous INCONSPICU |
0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 12 | — |
labeling LABELING |
5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 10 | — |
no premarket notification LACK NOTIF |
0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 | — |
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 May; Paperwork only peak in February.
Hazard or paperwork
| Kind | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hazard findings | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | May |
| Paperwork only | 8 | 13 | 5 | 10 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 7 | 13 | 12 | 11 | February |
By charge group
| Charge group | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labelling | 6 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 10 | February |
| Process and registration | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | April |
| Pesticide residues | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | May |
| Unsafe additives | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | October |
| Filth and insanitary conditions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | May |
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 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 28 | 83 | — |
| DNEI — Northeast | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 26 | — |
| DWCI — West Coast | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 17 | — |
| DNBI — North Border, the Canadian land border | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 10 | — |
| DSWI — Southwest, the Mexican land border | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | — |
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 "Germany: FDA food import refusals, 2020–2025", fruit-risk.com, 2026-11-01, https://fdair.fruit-risk.com/reports/germany.html.
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