according to CNNthe US Department of Defense has issued a warning to US troops: if you don’t want to test positive on a drug test, you should avoid eating poppy seeds.
It was Defense Secretary for Personnel and Preparedness Gilbert Cisneros who came up with the instruction on Tuesday last week. The background is that the consumption of poppy seeds can lead to positive drug tests.
– Warn officials to avoid consuming poppy seeds, the instructions say.
Can present challenges
However, the fact that poppy seeds can lead to drug test results is nothing new.
A study from 2022 shows that consuming poppy seeds can lead to opiate-positive urine tests.
The Defense Secretary also states that recent data indicate that certain types of poppy varieties have higher code contamination than previously thought.
TYPICAL ON LOFF: Poppy seeds are perhaps best known on rolls and bread. But consuming too much poppy seed products can cause a codeine-positive urine test, according to Cisneros. Photo: Michael Probst
– Ingestion of poppy seed products can cause a codeine-positive urine test. That could undermine the department’s ability to identify illegal drug use, says a memo from Cisneros that was made public Tuesday last week.
New rules in Norway
In 2021, the Norwegian government amended a regulation on certain pollutants in foodstuffs.
The government informs that poppy seeds are obtained from the opium poppy, which contains opium alkaloids such as morphine and codeine.
Furthermore, they explain that poppy seeds do not initially contain opium alkaloids, but that the seeds can however be contaminated by alkaloids as a result of insect damage or through pollution.
Based on this, a limit has been set on how much morphine and codeine products can contain. This applies, for example, to bakery products containing poppy seeds.
The limit values became applicable from 1 July 2022
