Abstract: The concern for the safety of the food supply has attracted more and more attention,especially the issues of rapid detection and quality,which is of great significance. Terahertz time- domain spectroscopy( THz- TDS),a newly developed spectroscopic method,is gaining more interest in the food industry.The traditional detection methods on food quality and safety were discussed,their strengths and weaknesses were analyzed in this paper.The important uniqueness and shortcomings of THz,and THz- TDS for the detection of harmful substances in food was also emphasized.Finally,future prospects of THz technology are discussed.