Objective To establish a rapid determination method for As, Cd and Pb in food by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry combined with fundamental parameter method. Methods The food samples were crushed and screened, and then the test samples were prepared and the quantitative analysis and rapid screening analysis were performed by XRF combined with fundamental parameter method. Results The experimental result showed that the detection limits (mg/kg) of As, Cd and Pb of XRF were 0.07,0.06, and 0.07, respectively. At the limit of quantitation level of GB 2762—2017 for food, the relative difference of XRF detection result of As, Cd and Pb were less than 25% compared with ICPMS. For the rapid detection of cereals, beans, meat products and aquatic products samples, XRF result showed that, the false positive rate and false negative rate of As, Cd and Pb were less than 5%, except for a few food types. Conclusion The method was suitable for screening analysis of arsenic, lead and cadmium in different food samples with the advantage of simple, rapid and highly sensitive.