After the revision of Article 33 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Administrative Penalty in 2021 established the "no penalty for first violation" system, its application in the field of food safety has attracted significant attention from both academic and practical communities. This study starts with Article 126 of the Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China, and combine with the List of Administrative Violations Not Subject to Penalties for First Offenses issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation and local practices, such as Beijing's rule that "expired food is exempt from penalty if the value of the goods is ≤200 yuan" and Shanghai's rule that "special foods sold together are exempt from penalty". The application logic and institutional tension of "no penalty for first violation" in the food safety domain are systematically analyzed. While responding to the policy orientation of optimizing the business environment, this system faces the conflict between the principle-based provisions of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Administrative Penalty and the fragmentation of local regulations, as well as the value imbalances between the high-risk nature of food safety and the fault-tolerance space for enterprises. Through normative analysis and empirical examination, an optimization path has been proposed, including establishing a unified national benchmark for food safety exemption from penalties, setting up a linkage mechanism of "exemption from penalty+credit supervision+heavier penalties for repeat offenders" and excluding high-risk illegal acts from application, to achieve a dynamic balance between ensuring food safety and maintaining market vitality.