Food safety incidents occur with high frequency in various places.Following the 'plasticizer incident' that happened in Taiwan in 2011,the level of plasticizer in white wine was reported to be above the limit of safety standard in one of the famous brands.These incidents have brought great public attention and caused significant concerns on the safety of plasticizer in food products.The definition and varieties of plasticizer,the possible types of plasticizer existing in food material,the detection methods of plasticizer,the migration of phthalate esters in plastic food packaging,the possible reasons for plasticizer being brought into food products and the ways for preventing plasticizer were reviewed.It could be a useful reference for research on food safety regarding plasticizer.