The safety status of children's snacks in the rural area of China is serious and directly threatening children's health and even life. Food risk prediction and risk analysis, as effective food control tools, have been accepted and practiced by many countries and could be a potential measure for the safety management of snacks in the rural area.Methods The rural area in Hebei Province was chosen as the study target. Snacks/hazards combinations were recognized through analyzing the official food detection reports released by Hebei Food and Drug Administration from 2014-2015 and questionnaire results from 350 children aged 5-13. Those combinations were divided into nine categories according to the risk levels and consumption frequencies.Results The risk prediction results showed that the nine categories could be divided into four risk matrix. Snacks, including candies, sausage, cakes and instant noodles belonged to the highest risk matrix and should be monitored most frequently. In addition, those snacks like cookies and seasoned pasta, which had been found some safety issues in the past, should also be the main control targets.Conclusion Risk prediction could help to establish risk priority and provide effective suggestion for risk management and risk communication. This study could provide suggestions for local supervision officials to conduct risk prediction and risk analysis and perform better risk management on foods.