Objective To establish a method for the determination of five fluorescent whitening agents (FWAs) in prepared dishes using gel permeation chromatography combined with high-performance liquid chromatography (GPC-HPLC).Methods The prepared dish samples were homogenized, ultrasonically extracted with acetonitrile, purified and reconstituted by GPC, then filtered before being analyzed by HPLC. The separation was performed on a Waters Symnetry Shield PR-C₁₈ column (4.6 mm×250 mm, 5.0 μm) using acetonitrile and water as the mobile phase with gradient elution.Results The five FWAs in the prepared dishes showed good linearity within the range of 2~500 μg/L, with correlation coefficients greater than 0.999. The limits of detection (LODs) ranged from 0.016 to 0.233 μg/kg, and the limits of quantification (LOQs) ranged from 0.05 to 0.78 μg/kg. At three spiked levels (low, medium, and high), the recoveries for the five FWAs were between 75.3% and 97.1%, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) ranging from 0.3% to 5.0%.Conclusion The developed method is accurate, reliable, and highly sensitive, making it suitable for the determination of FWAs in prepared dishes.