Objective/Meaning The research on the rural food safety in China was summarized and analyzed, aiming to explore its role in implementing the strategy of rural revitalization and food safety, meeting the new needs of the people for a better life, and revealing the important theoretical value and practical significance of this research.

Methods/Procedures A visual analysis of the rural food safety research in China from 2004 to 2023 was conducted by using the CiteSpace software, in order to understand the number of publications and research hotpots in this field, and to further predict the future research trends.

Results/Conclusions The results showed that: Firstly, from 2004 to 2023, the rural food safety research in China has gone through three periods, namely, the start-up phase, the development phase and the stable phase, and the hotness has declined in recent years. Second, through the keyword network contribution and cluster analysis, the research progress in the fields of rural food safety regulatory system, health education, influencing factors and social co-governance was explored. Third, by analyzing the hot keywords, the future development trend of China’s rural food safety research in terms of improving the regulatory system, enhancing the safety quality of the residents, clarifying the responsibility of the main body and improving the legal system was speculated.