Development of effective food inspection systems is critical in successful implementation of the hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) program. Hyperspectral imaging or imaging spectroscopy, which combines techniques of imaging and spectroscopy to acquire spatial and spectral information simultaneously, has great potential in food quality and safety inspection. This paper reviewed the basic principle and features of hyperspectral imaging and its hardware and software implementation. The potential areas of application for hyperspectral imaging in food quality and safety inspection were identified and its limitations were discussed. A hyperspectral imaging system developed for research in food quality and safety inspection was described. Experiments were performed to acquire hyperspectral images from four classes of poultry carcasses: normal, cadaver, septicemia, and tumor. Noticeable differences in the spectra of the relative reflectance and its second difference in the wavelengths between 430 nm and 900 nm were observed between wholesome and unwholesome carcasses. Differences among the three classes of unwholesome carcasses were also observed from their respective spectra. These results showed that hyperspectral imaging can be an effective tool for safety inspection of poultry carcasses.