AbstractBACKGROUNDFood safety risks (FSRs) are increasingly characterized by geographical complexity along with rapid urbanization, changing dietary pattern, and the modernization of the food industry. These factors pose challenges for food risk control in developing economies, more so during the global COVID‐19 pandemic. The accurate assessment of risk source and transfer path is a crucial step toward enhancing cross‐regional food safety management. This study aims to examine the spatial distribution, transfer path and driving factors of FSRs in China, provided with a national food safety database collected from 8.63 million batches of food sampling inspections for 33 different types of foods across 30 provinces.RESULTSThe findings reveal significant regional disparities in FSRs, which is the highest in the west with small‐scale sampling inspection and the lowest in the east with intensive sampling inspection. Catering and processed foods with higher daily consumption suffer more profound FSR than agricultural products. As evidenced by the shrinking low‐low agglomeration areas, the local FSRs have been effectively controlled. The high‐high agglomeration areas playing positive impacts on risk control are expanding while distributed discretely.CONCLUSIONThe spatial transfer of FSRs is significantly driven by multiple drivers: regulatory capacity and intensity, information disclosure, food industry, regional economy, and food consumption. Assessing FSRs based on a geospatial analysis contributes to identifying risk sources, optimizing risk management, and constructing a sustainable food safety system. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.