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U.S. regulators on Friday approved what would be the first commercialized biotech apple, rejecting efforts by the organic industry and other GMO critics to block the new fruit.The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) approved two genetically engineered apple varieties designed to resist browning that have been developed by the Canadian company Okanagan Specialty Fruits Inc.

Processing lines at some U.S. hog slaughterhouses are moving too fast for inspectors to adequately address contamination and food safety concerns, according to an advocacy group that says it has obtained affidavits from four government meat inspectors. In the affidavits, released Friday by the Government Accountability Project, a "whistle-blower protection" organization, the inspectors detail experiences inside pork-processing plants participating in a pilot program engineered by the USDA to speed up lines while improving food safety and trim inspection costs.

Monsanto Co. received final U.S. approval on Thursday for herbicide-tolerant crops to be used with a new herbicide the company says will fight problematic weed resistance on farm fields, but critics say will only worsen the problems. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) said the genetically modified cotton and soybean plants are granted "non-regulated" status. Monsanto is still waiting for final approval from the Environmental Protection Agency for the herbicide it designed to be used with the crops.

Monsanto Co, the world's largest seed company, said on Wednesday profits dropped 34 percent in the first quarter compared with a year ago, due in part to lower planted corn acres in South America and a shift in timing of some sales. Monsanto, known for its genetically engineered corn, soybeans and other crops as well as the popular Roundup herbicide, said net sales dropped to $2.9 billion in the quarter ended Nov. 30 compared with $3.1 billion in the year-ago period, with sales of corn seeds and genetic traits down 12 percent.

Symbiota, a start-up agricultural plant health company planning to tweak the capabilities of wheat, corn, soy and other crops in ways that improve yields, has named a former pharmaceutical executive as its president and chief executive officer. David Perry joined Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Symbiota this week after leaving Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc, a company he co-founded and ran from 2002 until last year."

More than half of food tested by the U.S. government for pesticide residues last year showed detectable levels of pesticides, though most were within levels the government considers to be safe, according to a report issued Friday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.The USDA looked at fresh and processed fruits and vegetables as well as infant formula, apple juice, and other products.

The final vote tally on an Oregon ballot measure that would require labeling of foods made with genetically modified ingredients was so close that state officials are doing a recount, a spokesman for the state said on Tuesday. Final results show the Oregon measure losing by 812 votes out of a total of more than 1.5 million votes, according to the Oregon Secretary of State's Office.

Crop-devouring armyworms are showing increasing resistance in some U.S. farm fields to a popular type of genetically modified crop that should kill them, scientists said on Monday.The evolution of insect resistance "is a great threat" long-term to the sustainability of the GMO crop biotechnology that has become a highly valued tool for many U.S. farmers, according to Fangneng Huang, an entomologist at Louisiana State University (LSU) and lead researcher for a three-year study.

Dow AgroSciences' decision to severely restrict U.S. introduction of its Enlist genetically modified crops and herbicide - billed as the company's most important product launch ever - came after extensive talks with U.S. grain leaders who fear roiling trade with China, a company executive said on Thursday.

Dow AgroSciences said on Wednesday it will restrict sales of its new genetically modified corn and soybeans to prevent them from entering U.S. domestic or international grain marketing channels as it awaits import approval from China. The move by the agricultural unit of Dow Chemical Co is aimed at avoiding the type of market turmoil that hit Sygenta AG and the U.S. grain industry when Syngenta commercialized its own GMO corn without waiting for import approval from China.