EPA Sets Cypermethrin Residue Limit for Dried Cacao Beans
EPA finalized a 0.05 ppm tolerance for cypermethrin residues on cacao, dried bean, after the National Confectioners Association petitioned for the limit.
EPA has established a tolerance for residues of the pesticide cypermethrin (CASRN 52315-07-8) on cacao, dried bean, setting the legal limit at 0.05 ppm. The National Confectioners Association petitioned the agency to create the tolerance so growers and processors could legally market cacao beans carrying trace residues of the insecticide.
EPA set the final level higher than what the petition sought. The agency established the tolerance at 0.05 ppm instead of the proposed 0.02 ppm, aligning it with the tolerance already in place for food handling establishments that applies across commodities, and it also corrected the covered commodity to the precise definition "Cacao, dried bean".
The rule reaches beyond cacao processors themselves. EPA's applicability guidance names agricultural producers, food manufacturers, and pesticide manufacturers as the entities potentially affected, covering crop production, animal production, food manufacturing, and pesticide manufacturing under the relevant NAICS classifications.
The tolerance took effect August 20, 2026, the same day it was published. EPA is accepting objections and hearing requests through October 19, 2026, which must be filed under the procedures in 40 CFR part 178.
EPA issued the rule under FFDCA section 408, which lets the agency set tolerances only when it determines they are "safe" — meaning a reasonable certainty of no harm from aggregate dietary and other exposures, with special consideration given to infants and children. Because the action responds to a petition and modifies a tolerance under that authority, EPA classified it as exempt from Executive Order 12866 review and from Regulatory Flexibility Act requirements.
Source: Federal Register, Environmental Protection Agency, "Cypermethrin; Pesticide Tolerance(s)," published August 20, 2026.