Objective To analyze the overall situation of national food safety supervision and sampling inspection from 2021 to 2023 and the main food safety issues. Methods The food safety supervision and sampling inspection data of the national market regulation departments from 2021 to 2023 were summarized, and the categories of food, unqualified project categories, as well as specific unqualified project were analyzed. Results In the past 3 years from 2021 to 2023, market regulation departments at all levels in China had completed a total of 34 food categories and over 20 million batches of supervision and sampling inspection, with an overall unqualified rate of 2.76%. From the sampling batches, the sampling batches for edible agricultural products and catering food were relatively high, accounting for a total of 51.50%. From the unqualified rate, catering food had the highest unqualified rate of 7.20%, mainly due to the high unqualified rate of catering utensils. The unqualified rate of edible agricultural products (3.44%), vegetable products (3.10%), roasted seeds and nuts products (2.72%) was also relatively high. The analysis results of unqualified project categories showed that in recent years, the main problems had been excessive pesticide residues, microbial contamination, and excessive use of food additives, with a total of 64.78% of unqualified samples. Pesticide residues were mainly found in edible agricultural products such as cowpeas, chives, and celery, etc. The main unqualified projects were imidacloprid, fungicide, chlorpyrifos, etc. The main food categories involved in microbial contamination were instant foods, aquatic products, pastries, fruit products, etc. The main unqualified projects were the total number of colonies, molds, and coliforms. The main food categories with the excessive use of food additives were fruit products, catering food, grain processing products, and seasonings. The main unqualified projects were pigments, aluminum containing additives, preservatives, and seasonings exceed the standard. Conclusion The state should continue to pay attention to key categories in food safety sampling, such as edible agricultural products, catering food, vegetable products, roasted seeds and nuts products, as well as issues such as excessive residues of pesticides and veterinary drugs, microbial contamination, and excessive use of food additives in key projects. The country not only needs to increase sampling efforts, but also strengthens supervision of various links such as production and sales, and strives to ensure food safety.