EPA Greenlights Pesticide for Dragon Fruit Delights
Published Date: 2/20/2026
Rule
Summary
The EPA just set safe limits for a pesticide called pydiflumetofen on coffee beans and dragon fruit, thanks to a request from Syngenta. This rule kicks in on February 20, 2026, and affects farmers, food makers, and pesticide companies. If anyone wants to challenge it, they have until April 21, 2026, to speak up—no extra costs or delays expected!
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Pesticide tolerances set for coffee and dragon fruit
EPA established legal limits for the pesticide pydiflumetofen on coffee, green bean at 0.2 parts per million (ppm), and on dragon fruit at 0.9 ppm. The rule is effective February 20, 2026, and the regulatory text notes there is no U.S. registration for use on these commodities as of that date.
Which businesses may be affected
EPA identifies potentially affected entities as agricultural producers, food manufacturers, and pesticide manufacturers and lists NAICS codes including crop production (111), food manufacturing (311), and pesticide manufacturing (32532). These groups may need to note the added tolerances when handling, processing, or trading the listed commodities.
EPA finds exposures below safety thresholds
EPA concluded these tolerances are safe and that acute dietary exposure to pydiflumetofen uses 9.1% of the acute population-adjusted dose (aPAD) for children 3–5 years old and chronic exposure uses 29% of the chronic PAD (cPAD) for children 1–2 years old. EPA also reported short-term aggregate margins of exposure (MOEs) of 350 for adults, 550 for children 6–<11, and 2400 for children 11–<16, where EPA's level of concern is a MOE of 100 or below.
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