To develop a method for simultaneous determination of tartrazine Al lake, sunset yellow Al lake, ponceau 4R Al lake, allura red Al lake and brilliant blue Al lake in coated candy by ultra performance liquid chromatography. MethodsTarget analytes in coated candy were extracted by sodium hydroxide solution, separated by gradient elution with anetonitrile and 10mmol/L acetic ammonium as mobile phase, and detected by photodiode array detector. ResultsGood linearities were achieved for five aluminum lake dyes in the range of 0.25-0.50mg/L, with correlation coefficients R²>0.999. The quantification limits of the method were 1.0mg/kg. Mean recoveries of five target analytes (spiked at three concentration levels) ranged from 79.5% to 116.4%, with relative standard deviations between 0.92% and 6.48%. Conclusion This simple, rapid and accurate method could be applied in simultaneous detection of five aluminum lake dyes in coated candy.