Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry combines the advantages of efficient and rapid gas chromatography and accurate identification by mass spectrometry. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry has been widely used in the separation and analysis of volatile components in food recently. This paper reviewed the application progress of GC in food analysis, introduces the separation mechanism of GC, the types of GC columns and the classification of detectors. The application progress of GC-MS in food analysis was reviewed, and the separation process of gas chromatography, the classification of chromatographic columns and the classification of detectors were introduced. Moreover, the applications of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in food nutrition, food safety and food traceability were discussed in detail with specific examples.