The invention discloses a method for quickly identifying boric acid or borax in food or an adhesive. The method is characterized by comprising the following steps: preparing a test strip for quickly detecting boric acid or borax by making use of a theory that 5-hydroxyflavone and boric acid or borax generate reaction under the action of citric acid to produce a yellow complex, then extracting a food or adhesive sample with water, titrating an extracting solution on the test strip, performing chromogenic reaction, and judging whether boric acid or borax is added or not. The method has the maximum characteristic that illegal adding of boric acid or borax can be quickly identified, and the chromogenic reaction system is high in sensitivity; a sample with the boric acid or borax content lower than 10mg/L can be qualitatively detected. The identification method is convenient and quick; a judgment result is simple and accurate; the method is particularly suitable for on-site detection and identification of food and is favorable for large-batch popularization and application.