The volatile compounds in five adhesives used in food packaging materials were studied. The volatile compounds in adhesives were extracted by head space solid-phase microextractions (HS-SPME) firstly. Then the retention index, odor, quantitative values and concentration of volatile compounds identified were calculated by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O). The major volatile compounds in adhesives were identified and the compositions and concentrations of the volatile compounds were qualified, quantified and compared. The results showed that the type and the concentration of volatile compounds can be effectively identified and confirmed by HS-SPME/GC-O-MS. And the volatile components for each adhesive were different in composition and content. Totally 33 kinds of odors were identified, among which in most adhesives were acetic acid, butyric acid, methyl butyrate, 1-butanol, and nonyl aldehyde. The most abundant volatile compound in adhesives was acetic acid, whose concentration varied from 22 900~8 930 000 ng/g. The optimum extraction time was 15 minutes and the proper extraction fiber was DVB/CAR/PDMS.