The work aims to provide better scientific theoretical basis for the application of chlorine dioxide in the field of food preservation. The research progress and application of chlorine dioxide applied in the fields of antibacterial mechanism, preparation technology and food preservation were reviewed. Featured by strong bactericidal effect, safety and high efficiency, chlorine dioxide was widely used for food preservation. The preparation technology of chlorine dioxide mainly included the stable state chlorine dioxide. Chlorine dioxide has great potential in the field of food preservation and stable state chlorine dioxide has the sustained release function to some extent; however, the sustained release mechanism of stable state chlorine dioxide in food preservation remains to be further studied.