Objective  To analyze the data on national sampling inspection on food safety in six provinces (municipalities) in 2016 and to compare the status of food safety in different regions for making suggestions and strategies on food safety supervision in China.

  Methods  We collected data on food safety sampling inspection carried out by China Food and Drug Administration in 2016 across China; then we extracted the data for eastern region (Shanghai municipality and Jiangsu province), central region (Hubei and Anhui province) and western region (Sichuan province and Chongqing municipality) and calculated qualification rates for 24 kinds of food; we used descriptive statistics and variance analysis to compare regional differences in the qualification rates.

  Results  The average overall qualification rate for all the 24 kinds of food inspected was 97.58% and there were 14 kinds of food with the overall qualification rate lower than the average, including starch and starch products (92.56%), catering food (95.33%), and cakes (95.55%). A significant regional difference in the overall qualification rate for all kinds of food inspected was observed, with the higher rate in eastern region than that in central and western region. The qualification rate for all kinds of food inspected was the highest (98.55%) in eastern region, followed by those (97.23% and 97.20%) in central and western regions. The inspected food with the lowest qualification rate was bee products (96.23%) in eastern region, alcohol products (91.76%) in central region, and potato products and puffed food (96.23%) in western region.

  Conclusion  Inspection and supervision on food safety should be strengthened in China, especially in central and western regions.