It appears like a joke: poppy seeds infused with opioids.
Certainly, it was a plotline on the sitcom Seinfeld. However for some it has been a tragedy.
Folks have died after consuming tea brewed from unwashed poppy seeds.
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And after consuming lemon poppy seed bread or an every little thing bagel, moms reportedly have been separated from newborns as a result of the ladies failed drug checks.
Poppy seeds come from the plant that produces opium and from which narcotics comparable to morphine and codeine are derived. Throughout harvesting and processing, the seeds can grow to be coated with the opium fluid.
Members of the Home and Senate have proposed laws “to prohibit the distribution and sale of contaminated poppy seeds in order to prevent harm, addiction, and further deaths from morphine-contaminated poppy seeds.” The invoice was one among a number of on the agenda for a Sept. 10 Home listening to.
The day earlier than the listening to, The Marshall Undertaking and Reveal reported on a lady who ate a salad with poppy seed dressing earlier than giving start, examined constructive on the hospital for opiates, was reported to youngster welfare, and noticed her child taken into protecting custody. Nearly two weeks handed earlier than she was allowed to convey her child residence, the story stated.
“It’s not an urban legend: Eating poppy seeds can cause diners to test positive for codeine on a urinalysis,” the Protection Division warned army personnel in 2023.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Company way back issued the same warning to athletes.
The Middle for Science within the Public Curiosity, a watchdog group, petitioned the FDA in 2021 to restrict the opiate content material of poppy seeds. In Might, after greater than three years with no response, it sued the company to pressure motion.
“So far the FDA has been negligent in protecting consumers,” stated Steve Hacala, whose son died after consuming poppy seed tea and who has joined forces with CSPI.
The lawsuit was placed on maintain in July, after the FDA stated it could reply to the group’s petition by the tip of February 2025.
The FDA didn’t reply questions for this text. The company typically doesn’t touch upon litigation, spokesperson Courtney Rhodes stated.
A 2021 examine co-authored by CSPI personnel discovered greater than 100 reviews to poison management facilities between 2000 and 2018 ensuing from intentional abuse or misuse of poppy seeds, stated CSPI scientist Eva Greenthal, one of many examine’s authors.
Solely not often would baked items or different meals objects containing washed poppy seeds set off constructive drug checks, docs who’ve studied the difficulty stated.
It’s “exquisitely doubtful” that the “relatively trivial” quantity of morphine in an every little thing bagel or the like would trigger anybody hurt, stated Irving Haber, a health care provider who has written about poppy seeds, focuses on ache medication, and signed the CSPI petition to the FDA.
However, tea comprised of massive portions of unwashed poppy seeds may result in habit and overdose, docs stated. The dangers are heightened if the individual consuming the brew can be consuming different opioids, comparable to prescription ache relievers.
Benjamin Lai, a doctor who chairs a program on opioids on the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, stated he has been treating a affected person who developed long-term opioid habit from consuming poppy seed tea. The affected person, a person in his 30s, discovered it at a well being meals retailer and was below the impression it could assist him loosen up and get well from gymnasium exercises. After just a few months, he tried to cease and skilled withdrawal signs, Lai stated.
One other affected person, an older girl, developed withdrawal signs below related circumstances however responded nicely to therapy, Lai stated.
Some web sites tout poppy seed tea as providing well being advantages. And a few sellers “may use specific language such as ‘raw,’ ‘unprocessed,’ or ‘unwashed’ to signal that their products contain higher concentrations of opiates than properly processed seeds,” the CSPI lawsuit stated.
Steve Hacala’s son, Stephen Hacala, a music trainer, had been experiencing nervousness and insomnia, for which poppy seed tea is promoted as a pure treatment, the lawsuit stated. In 2016, at age 24, he ordered a bag of poppy seeds on-line, rinsed them with water, and consumed the rinse. He died of morphine poisoning.
The one supply of morphine present in Stephen’s residence, the place he died, was commercially accessible poppy seeds, a medical expert on the Arkansas State Crime Lab stated in a letter to the daddy. The medical expert wrote that poppy seeds “very likely” brought about Stephen’s demise.
Steve Hacala estimated that the amount of poppy seeds present in a 1-liter plastic water bottle in his son’s residence may have delivered greater than 10 occasions a deadly dose.
Steve Hacala and his spouse, Betty, have funded CSPI’s efforts to name consideration to the difficulty. (The writer of KFF Well being Information, David Rousseau, is on the CSPI board.)
The lawsuit additionally cited moms who, like these within the investigation by The Marshall Undertaking and Reveal, ran afoul of guidelines meant to guard newborns. For instance, although Jamie Silakowski had not used opioids whereas pregnant, she was initially prevented from leaving the hospital along with her child, the go well with stated.
Silakowski recalled that, earlier than going to the hospital, she had eaten lemon poppy seed bread at Tim Hortons, a fast-food chain, CSPI stated in its petition. “No one in the hospital believed Ms. Silakowski or appeared to be aware that the test results could occur from poppy seeds.”
Folks from youngster protecting providers made unannounced visits to her residence, interviewed her different youngsters, and questioned lecturers at their faculty, she stated in an interview.
Whereas on maternity depart, she needed to endure drug testing, Silakowski stated. “Peeing in front of someone like I’m a criminal — it was just mortifying.”
Even members of the family have been questioning her, and there was nothing she may do to dispel doubts, she stated. “Relationships were torn apart,” she stated.
The dad or mum firm of Tim Hortons, Restaurant Manufacturers Worldwide, which additionally owns Burger King and Popeyes, didn’t reply to questions from KFF Well being Information.
In July, The Washington Publish reported that Dealer Joe’s Every thing however the Bagel seasoning was banned and being confiscated in South Korea as a result of it accommodates poppy seeds. Dealer Joe’s didn’t reply to inquiries for this text. The seasoning is listed on the market on the corporate’s web site.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Company says unwashed poppy seeds can kill when used alone or together with different medicine. Whereas poppy seeds are exempt from drug management below the Managed Substances Act, opium contaminants on the seeds usually are not, the company says. The Justice Division has introduced prison prosecutions over the sale of unwashed poppy seeds.
In the meantime, the laws to manage poppy seed contamination has not gained a lot traction.
The Senate invoice, launched by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), has two co-sponsors.
The Home invoice, launched by Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), has none. Although it was on the agenda, it didn’t come up on the latest listening to.
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