Abstract: Objective To understand the usage of food additives in Guangzhou City during 2007－2011. Methods Sampling sites were selected by multi stage stratified random sampling method in major consuming places (catering services, supermarkets, meat grocers, wholesale markets, retail shops, etc.) in 12 districts (or county level cities) of Guangzhou during 2007－2011. We collected only one sample from each batch of similar food samples of different merchants by random sampling Methods. Food additives (including preservatives, sweeteners, decolorizer bleach, color fixative and colorants) were detected and assessed in accordance with national standard Methods. Results Among 1 996 various food samples collected, 1 596 were qualified, with a passing rate of 79.96%. The qualified items were 11 531 out of the 11 999 total monitored items, with a passing rate of 96.10%. The number of checkout items were 2 433, with a positive rate of 20.28%. The passing rates were 95.17% (3 113/3 271) for the preservative（benzoic acid, sorbic acid）, 88.65% (789/890) for the sweetener（sodium saccharin, sodium cyclamate, acesulfame K）, 84.66% (276/326) for the decolorizer(sulfur dioxide), 99.90% (1 001/1 002) for color protection agent(nitrite) and 97.57% (6 352/6 510) for colorants(carmine, amaranth, tartrazine, sunset yellow, blue). The passing rates of five main foodstuffs were 86.72% (875/1 009) for the deli meats, 57.94% (146/252) for candied succades, 100.00% (212/212) for beverage, 73.22% (134/183) for rice and flour products, and 67.35% (229/340) for cold vegetable dish in sauce, with statistically significant difference (P<0.01). Conclusion There were varying degrees of excessive use of 12 kinds of food additives among five main foodstuffs in Guangzhou. Therefore, we suggest strengthening the monitoring of food additives.