Smoking and roasting during meat processing can produce special appearance and flavor， but also can form some harmful substances， such as heterocyclic aromatic amines（HAAs）. There are two classes of HAAs： pyrolytic HAAs （>300 ℃） and thermic HAAs （100-300 ℃）. Epidemiological results show there were a obvious relationship between human daily intake of well-done meat products with increased HAA levels and an enhanced risk of digestive system cancer. This review focuses on the classification， carcinogenic and metabolic of HAAs. Additionally， the formation kinetics and mechanism of HAAS in model system were discussed. Finally， the different extraction and detection methods of HAAs were introduced， and some problems needed be resolved in HAA study are discussed. This review provides a theoretical support to the study of HAAs.