Objective To study the epidemiological characteristics of foodborne disease events reported by media from 2014 to 2019 in China. Methods The foodborne disease events were collected from the “food safety public opinion daily”, an internal issue of China National Centerfor Food Safety Risk Assessment, and statistical analysis was conducted according to the type, time and place of food safety incidents. Results Total of 727 events were reported by the media from 2014 to 2019 in China, 327 of these could be identified with clear causes. The events caused by microbes and poisonous mushroom were the most common, accounted for 12.93%(94/727) and 13.34%(97/727) respectively. Chemical substances accounted for 6.74%(49/727), poisonous plants and animals accounted for 11.97%(87/727), and the events which could not be identified with clear causes accounted for 55.02%(400/727). 224 events were reported in East China, which was significantly higher than other places in China(P＜0.05). There was seasonal fluctuation of the foodborne disease events, especially the events causing by poisonous mushroom. Restaurants had high incidence of foodborne diseases accounted for 60.39% (439/727), followed by family settings accounts for 26.82%(195/727). Conclusion Foodborne disease events reported by the media from 2014 to 2019 were mainly caused by microorganisms and poisonous mushrooms. Although foodborne diseases occurred in all regions of China, the number of foodborne diseases reported in East China was much higher than that in other regions. Summer was a high incidence season of foodborne diseases especially caused by poisonous mushroom. Restaurants and families had high incidence of foodborne diseases.