Pentagon warns service members against eating poppy seeds

Misty Severi

February 21, 10:09 PM February 21, 10:09 PM

The Department of Defense issued new warnings for service members on Tuesday, urging them to not consume poppy seeds because it could cause a false positive on drug tests.

The memo, written by Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Gilbert Cisneros, told military service members to stay away from poppy seeds in all forms, even baked goods, because they could contain more opium than previously thought.

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"Out of an abundance of caution, I find protecting service members and the integrity of the drug testing program requires a warning to avoid poppy seeds," Cisneros said in the memo. "Recent data suggests that certain poppy seed varieties may have higher codeine contamination than previously reported. Consumption of poppy seed products could cause a codeine positive urinalysis result and undermine the Department’s ability to identify illicit drug use."

Cisneros did not specify how long the warning would last but said it could be updated at any time as new information comes in.

Poppy seeds can absorb opium extract when being harvested, according to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. This could then lead to a detection of morphine or codeine in a urinalysis for up to 48 hours after poppy seeds are ingested, which would cause false positives in drug testing.

The Pentagon established the Drug Demand Reduction Program in 1981 to discourage drug abuse, and service members are required to go through random drug testing through urinalysis multiple times a year.

The Department of Veterans Affairs raised testing levels for opiates in 2017 from 300 nanograms per milliliter to 2,000 ng/mL because of the possibility of false positives from poppy seeds.