Dysphagia is a dietary disorder caused by the decline of physiological function， and patients have difficulty swallowing thick liquids and foods with greater hardness like normal people， resulting in health problems such as malnutrition. The research and development of dysphagia food can meet the dietary needs of people with decreased chewing and/or swallowing function. Hydrophilic colloid can be used as a thickening agent and texture modifier in dysphagia food. In addition， the combination of hydrophilic colloid and 3D printing provides more possibilities for the design of dysphagia food. In this paper， the physical properties and technical requirements， the improvement mechanism of hydrophilic colloid on dysphagia food， and the application of hydrophilic colloid in YISHI food in recent years were reviewed in order to provide some help for the subsequent research and development of the dysphagia food.