Soybean crops with built-in pesticides no longer need safety limits for their residues

US environmental regulators have removed the requirement for safety limits on residues of two specific insect-killing proteins found in genetically modified soybeans. This means farmers can grow these soybeans without worrying about how much of the pesticide protein remains on the crop when it's harvested for food or animal feed.

For decades, any new pesticide or genetically modified crop had to prove its safety by establishing a maximum permissible level for its residues. This rule change means that for these specific soybean proteins, regulators now consider them so safe that no such limit is needed. It streamlines the approval process for these types of plant-incorporated pesticides, making it easier and faster to bring similar biotech crops to market.