Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) were compared for determining the contents of metal elements in infant formula milk powder. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantitation (LOQ) of ICP-MS were established using Sc, Rh and Bi as internal standards. Relative standard deviations (RSDs) for 26 analytes were less than 5.0%, and recoveries from spiked samples were 82.80%-110.80%. Eight metal elements could be simultaneously determined by ICP-AES, whose LOD and LOQ were slightly higher than those of ICP-MS. Furthermore, ICP-AES exhibited a good linearity and spiked recoveries in the range of 91.64%-112.73%. In the end, we concluded that both ICP-MS and ICP-AES had a high precision and a good linearity, but ICP-MS allowed the determination of a wider range of metal elements with lower LOD and LOQ.