Objective To investigate the impact of the Food Safety Law on the epidemiological characteristics of food poisoning and put forward regulatory measures. Methods Descriptive analysis and comparative analysis were carried out based on the data from the public notice of food poisoning incidents from the national health administrative departments for the basic characteristics of food poisoning before and after the implementation of the Food Safety Law in China with the end of 2009 as the dividing line. Results The number of reported food poisoning and the number of poisoned people dropped significantly, and showed a steady trend at a relatively low overall level after the Food Safety Law was implemented. The attribution of food poisoning changed from microbial, toxic animals and plants, chemical and unknown causes to toxic animals and plants, microbial, chemical and unknown causes. The proportion of food poisoning at collective canteens dropped from 32.8% to 22.4%, the proportion of families rise from 38.4% to 49.7%. Families became the most important places where food poisoning occurred. Conclusion After the implementation of the Food Safety Law, the food poisoning situation in China significantly improved; the changes of the causes and places of food poisoning provided the basis for formulating the corresponding prevention measures of food poisoning and the policy of supervision and management.