Sulfonamides are broad spectrum antimicrobial drugs, they are cheap and stable and are widely used in the prevention and treatment of diseases for humans and animals. The extensive use of sulfonamides causes their residues in edible animal food, which can endanger human health. Therefore, establishing a rapid, efficient and simple analytical methods is benefit in supervising veterinary drug residues. This review is focused on immunoassays based antigen-antibody method. A brief summary of the synthesis of hapten and application of new antibodies, as well as the popular analytical methods in recent years is presented, including enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA), fluorescence immunoassay (FIA), chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA), colloid gold immunochromatography (CGIC) and biosensors. It provides a useful reference for monitoring safety of edible animal foods.