Cold plasma as an effective non-thermal technology for decontamination has been received more and more attention in recent years. This review provides a critical summary of studies of development background and the sterilization mechanisms of cold plasma, while the decontamination applications of cold plasma in food industry have been also involved. In addition, the development of machinery of cold plasma technology in food industry and future research suggestions have been provided. The main purpose of this review is to provide information of cold plasma sterilization technology for further research.