LED is a kind of green and environment-friendly cold light source, which has the advantages of non-toxicity, non-residue and wide application prospects in killing foodborne pathogenic bacteria in fruit and vegetable postharvest by using LED illumination technology. In this paper, the characteristics, sterilization mechanism and sterilization effect of visible and ultraviolet LED lamps were summarized. The sterilization effect of visible and ultraviolet LED lamps assisted by several different photosensitizers, as well as the dosage, effect and strains of the photosensitizers used werealso introduced. Finally, the existing problems and the future development direction of LED illumination sterilization technology were proposed.