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Due to safety concerns regarding dietary exposure to POPs, regulatory bodies are issuing detailed guidelines for testing for polychlorodibenzodioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorodibenzofurans (PCDFs) ('dioxins') and dioxin-like (DL)-PCBs in foods of animal origin. Determination of the aforesaid chemicals at regulatory levels requires highly selective and sensitive testing techniques. The new generation of low-resolution mass spectrometers (triple quadrupoles) allows very low levels of quantification to be reached (in the order of tens of femtograms), thus suggesting a potential for their application in food and feed analysis. The performance of the low-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (LRMS/MS) approach with triple quadrupoles was assessed on a qualified set of food samples from proficiency tests (PTs) and defense analysis. Accuracy was tested comparing the results with data from high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) and with consensus values from PTs. The cumulative TEQ results were characterized by deviations not exceeding 15% of PCDD + PCDF, DL-PCB, and PCDD + PCDF + DL-PCB (TEQTOT) reference consensus values (sample TEQTOT range, 2.29–25.1 pgWHO-TEQ97/g fat). Congener analytical variabilities did not influence significantly the WHO-TEQ97 outcome of the corresponding sample. This preliminary performance evaluation highlights the potential of LRMS/MS as a routine technique for quantitative analysis of PCDDs, PCDFs, and DL-PCBs in food. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.