Phthalate esters are most widely used as plasticizers which have toxicity and carcinogenicity. Phthalate esters are found as contaminants in many food products and they are a branch of compounds, homologues and isomers, which present similar structures and properties. And the residue contents vary a lot in different matrices. Efficient sample pretreatment, highly selective separation mode, sensitive detection methods as well as reducing background interference are challenges for their determination in complex samples. In this paper, some sample pretreatment methods such as liquid-liquid extraction, liquid-liquid micro-extraction, solid phase extraction, solid phase micro-extraction, matrix solid-phase extraction and other traditional and new types of extraction and purification technology applied in the food samples are reviewed. The characteristics of analytical methods including gas chromatography, liquid chromatography, tandem mass spectrometry, high resolution mass spectrometry, enzyme-linked immunoassay, and ion mobility spectrometry are also discussed.