Objective The aim of this study was to determine the content of phthalate in disposable plastic tableware sold on Chengdu market, and to provide primary data for safety evaluation. Methods Sample selection was based on stratified sampling. Sixteen phthalate compounds were investigated in 60 disposable plastic tableware, divided into seven groups. The analysis was performed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Results In this survey, diethyl phthalate, diisobutyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate and diethylhexyl phthalate were detected, while the other 12 phthalate compound were not. The positive rates of the four detected phthalate were 6.7% (4/60), 10.0% (6/60), 46.7% (28/60) and 28.3% (17/60) respectively, and the highest concentrations were 10.3,6.4,7.2 and 65.6 mg/kg, respectively. Conclusion The observed level of detection rates and maximum concentrations were relatively high in this survey. In addition, some subgroups of PAEs that were not allowed to use in food contact materials were detected. Therefore, the migration in different food simulant would be analyzed in the next step for further health outcome assessment.