There is growing interest in using hemp materials as animal feed ingredients, which may raise safety concerns because of the potential transfer of active cannabinoids to the resultant products of animal origin. Hence, the detection and identification of cannabinoids in feeds would be useful. We developed a simple, fast, and sensitive method for simultaneous quantification of 4 major cannabinoids in animal feeds by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). We used a simple solvent extraction and dilution approach to extract cannabinoids from the feed matrix. We validated the method in 2 types of cattle feeds with acceptable intra-day and inter-day accuracy (87.5–116%) and precision (< 15%). The limit of detection was 0.05 µg/g, and the limit of quantification was 0.1 µg/g. Furthermore, the method was able to identify and quantify cannabinoids in cattle feeds mixed with hempseed cake as well as in several different hempseed materials, demonstrating its potential in veterinary laboratory applications.

The presence of insecticides like pyrethrins and synthetic pyrethroids, combined with the synergist piperonyl butoxide, in animal feeds can pose a risk to both animal and human health by contaminating the food chain. In this study, a simple and fast method was developed for the simultaneous determination of these compounds in contaminated animal feeds using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Sample preparation was carried out using a QuEChERS-based approach, and the method was validated with acceptable accuracy ranging from 84 to 115% and precision below 10%. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were between 0.15 and 3 and 1 and 10 µg/kg, respectively. The method detected insecticide contaminations in various livestock and poultry feeds. Furthermore, the method was applied to a toxicology case, where it identified and quantified piperonyl butoxide and deltamethrin in the submitted horse feed sample. These results demonstrate that the method can be a valuable tool in animal health and food safety diagnostic applications, as well as veterinary toxicology investigations concerning pyrethrin-related feed contamination.