To introduce the types and analysis methods of common residual contaminants in paper packaging of food, so as to provide potential directions for future research. Domestic and foreign literatures on contaminants in food packaging paper were analyzed and summarized. There are 6 main classes of contaminants in food packaging paper, including heavy metals and their compounds, fluorescent brightening agents, pathogenic microorganisms, volatile organic solvents, plasticizers and organic chlorine compounds. The analysis methods for the different contaminants were compared, and the fast, highly sensitive and cheap detection technology was pointed out as the developmental direction.