Food adulteration, commonplace throughout human history, remains a concern today, with several notable instances involving the agro-food industry. In this review, we introduce four vibrational spectroscopic techniques (near-infrared, mid-infrared, Raman spectroscopy, and hyperspectral imaging) for the determination of food authenticity and adulteration. The characteristics and applications of these techniques, along with the major barriers and limitations, are discussed, with an emphasis on the treatment of spectral data using chemometrics. Vibrational spectroscopic techniques have potential to fulfill the industrial need for food quality and authenticity analysis, however, still requires measurement accessories and dynamic chemomatric analytical methods for modern food inspection. We believe this review will be an effective guide for food industry researchers and engineers to aid in the selection of spectroscopic methods to analyze food quality and authenticity. •Reviewed food quality and authenticity analysis with four spectroscopic techniques.•Increasing concern with existing analytical methods is considered.•Developments and fundamental concepts of spectroscopic techniques are discussed.•The limitations and constraints of the spectroscopic techniques are presented.