Constructing the model of intelligent food safety supervision in China: administrative law perspectives and regulatory challenges

Intelligent food safety supervision (IFSS) represents a comprehensive transformation of traditional supervisory practices. This paradigm shift is driven by the dual forces of technological empowerment and smart governance principle, manifesting in fundamental reforms to supervisory philosophies, operational approaches, and procedural frameworks. Its ultimate legislative goals are to enable quantifiable risk assessments, facilitate shared food safety information, automate law enforcement, ensure traceable legal accountability throughout the entire supervisory process, and prevent food safety incidents. The study aims to investigate the challenges in implementing IFSS through administrative law perspectives by establishing a model. Employing doctrinal legal research method and Max Weber’s ideal type methodology, this study constructed an analytical framework that outlined the basic concepts, core components, and theoretical foundations of China’s IFSS model. Findings reveal that while intelligent supervision significantly enhances food traceability capabilities, optimizes regulatory discretion in enforcement, and facilitates risk communication; it concurrently faces threefold challenges of legitimacy, democratic accountability, and effectiveness. To address this gap, this study proposes a comprehensive administrative legal regulatory framework incorporating a rights-obligations evaluation mechanism. By clarifying the principles of IFSS and allocating powers, rights, and obligations among multi-stakeholders, this approach seeks to refine China’s IFSS system. These insights provide scholars, policymakers, and legislators with valuable perspectives for advancing the legal infrastructure of food safety governance, particularly in optimizing the integration of technological innovation with regulatory compliance.