10/23/2026
Beware non organic fruit!
US strawberries can legally carry twice as much of a BASF bug killer as the United Nations' international food standard recommends.
The insecticide is afidopyropen, sold by BASF in products such as Sefina. In February 2026, EPA set a permanent limit of 0.3 parts per million for it on strawberries, after a petition from BASF. Codex, the food standards program run by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization, has a strawberry limit of 0.15 ppm, half the US number. In the European Union, afidopyropen is not approved, so the EU applies its general default limit of 0.01 ppm, a catch-all for pesticides not approved there rather than a safety ruling.
Why it matters: EPA classifies afidopyropen as having "Suggestive Evidence of Carcinogenic Potential." That rating is based on rat studies, where EPA reported benign liver tumors in male rats and uterine tumors, including malignant ones, in female rats. Under EPA's cancer guidelines, "suggestive" means a concern about possible cancer in humans is raised, but the data are not strong enough for a firmer conclusion.
To be fair: 0.3 ppm is a legal ceiling, not a measurement of what is on strawberries in stores. A temporary 0.3 limit had already been in place since June 2024 for an emergency use in California against lygus bugs, and the February 2026 rule made it permanent. EPA says there is "reasonable certainty that no harm will result" to the US general population or to infants and children. EPA estimates that all food and drinking water with this chemical combined use 2.7 percent of the safe daily dose for the general population and 6.3 percent for children 1 to 2, the most exposed group, assuming every crop is treated and carries the full legal limit. EPA says its safe daily dose also accounts for the cancer finding, and it found no concern that the chemical damages genes. The Codex limit is a voluntary international recommendation, not a US law.
What you can do: rinse strawberries under running water before eating, as FDA advises for all produce. That advice is about food safety in general, not this pesticide. USDA organic rules do not allow synthetic pesticides unless they are on an approved list, and afidopyropen is not on it.
Sources: Federal Register, EPA final rule "Afidopyropen; Pesticide Tolerances," February 13, 2026 (91 FR 6785). EPA, "Afidopyropen; Pesticide Tolerances," September 13, 2018 (83 FR 46394). EPA, "Afidopyropen; Pesticide Tolerance for Emergency Exemption," June 20, 2024 (89 FR 51843). 40 CFR 180.700. Codex Alimentarius pesticide residue database, afidopyropen. EU Pesticides Database. EPA label, Sefina Insecticide (EPA Reg. No. 7969-391). EPA Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment, 2005. FDA, "Selecting and Serving Produce Safely." 7 CFR 205.105 and 205.601.
