This paper presents a revision on the instrumental analytical techniques and methods used in food analysis together with their main applications in food science research. The present paper includes a brief historical perspective on food analysis, together with a deep revision on the current state of the art of modern analytical instruments, methodologies, and applications in food analysis with a special emphasis on the works published on this topic in the last three years (2009)(2010)(2011). The article also discusses the present and future challenges in food analysis, the application of "omics" in food analysis (including epigenomics, genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics), and provides an overview on the new discipline of Foodomics.