Abstract With the upgrading of people’s consumption concept, food packaging materials have received much attention. From the perspective of chemical elements, this paper introduces the composition, characteristics and development trends of new food packaging materials as well as food surface coating materials. Nanomaterials and bio-based materials in food packaging materials are popular among consumers due to their good mechanical properties and environmental protection. The food indicates that the edible film material has won the favor of the public because of the simple operation, low investment and high safety in the rise of “instant consumption”.From the perspective of the research and development process of new food packaging materials, its innovative development is closely related to the nature of chemical elements. In the future, the improvement of the performance of food packaging materials must also rely on the combination and utilization of characteristic chemical elements.