Polymerase chain reaction(PCR) has become a more and more important detection technique for identification of animal sources,plant sources,genetically modified organisms(GMOs) and microorganisms in food safety detection field.The PCR technique evolving from conventional PCR(cPCR) to fluorescent PCR(qPCR) and digital PCR(dPCR),has gradually been applied in the qualitative,relative quantification and absolute quantification due to its ability to detect small amounts of nucleic acid in raw food materials,while dPCR,is especially of great advantage both in efficiency and accuracy compared with other methods.The latest research progresses of dPCR in food safety detection in recent five years are summarized in this paper,the relevant standards of cPCR,qPCR and dPCR in food analysis are compared,and the technical advances and problems of dPCR in different food safety fields are discussed.Finally,The future development of dPCR technique is anticipate.