Click chemistry has attracted much attention due to its excellent reaction performances such as reaction modularity,no toxic and harmful by-products,and high reaction efficiency.It is another new type of synthesis technology after combinatorial chemistry,which has been widely used in the functionalization of material surface,synthesis of high polymers,bio-labeling and other fields.In addition,the active groups of click reaction reagents are easily modified on other chemical groups,indicating that the click reaction could be used as a promising intermediate reaction for mediating signal conversion or amplification in certain reactions.In recent years,a large number of click chemistry-based reagents have emerged,and have been applied to develop a series of analysis and detection methods.Due to the advantages of low detection limit,wide linear range and accurate quantification of target analytes,this type of analysis methods have a good application prospect.The classic copper-catalyzed alkyene/azide cycloaddition(CuAAC) is the most widely used click reaction which has several unique advantages required for sensing reactions:firstly,the use of Cu+ as a catalyst could greatly improve the reaction efficiency and sensitivity,secondly,the orthogonal reaction between alkyne and azide determines the good specificity of the reaction,and thirdly,the reaction is not sensitive to environmental conditions including temperature,water,pH,etc.,and could be performed at room temperature or water solvent conditions.These good reaction properties make it possible to use CuAAC reaction to construct sensing methods with high sensitivity,good specificity and strong stability.Food safety detection is an important means to control hazards in food and protect public health.At present,the commonly used methods for food safety monitoring almost all rely on the cumbersome instruments and equipments,and thus resulting in the reduction of detection efficiency.In this context,the superior performance of click chemistry provides new ideas for food safety detection.The concept,main reaction types,reaction principles and characteristics of click chemistry are reviewed in this article,and a series of rapid detection methods based on click chemistry such as colorimetry,fluorescence method,electrochemical method,etc.are also compared.Moreover,the application examples of CuAAC reaction in the detection of food ingredients and additives,pesticide and veterinary drug residues,mycotoxins,heavy metals and food-borne pathogens are highlighted.Finally,the shortcomings of click chemistry reactions at the current stage are pointed out,and the future application prospects of click chemistry in food safety detection and other research fields are presented.