A method for the determination of eight antibiotic residues in animal food by the ultra pressure liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was established.Methods The analytes were extracted by ethyl acetate, and the identification was achieved by electrospray ionization in positive and negative mode (ESI+/ESI-) using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). The quantifications were performed by the matrix matched internal standards. Results Under the optimum experimental conditions, the calibration curves of the eight analytes showed a good linearity in the concentrations of 0.05-50.0 μg/kg with r² above 0.995. Recoveries were between 56.8% and 108.2% with RSD less than 15.4%. The limits of detection were 0.05-0.1 μg/kg.Conclusion The method had the advantages of simple pretreatment, high sensitivity, and lower matrix effects, which was suitable for rapid, high-throughput quantitative food analysis.