Poppy Seeds Misconceptions: Know the Facts

If you are a great fan of culinary arts, perhaps poppy seeds are quite familiar with you. For the benefit of all, poppy seeds are minute kidney-like seeds that are harvested straight from the seedpods of a plant known as opium poppy. For many centuries, poppy seeds for sale have been used by various civilizations mostly on medical purposes. But these days, poppy seeds have become more popular as a fine ingredient that adds delicious taste and good nutrition on various recipes.

Through time, some strong speculations have been brought out regarding the use of poppy seeds. They have been labeled as nothing more than legends and myths for no strong evidences were brought out in relation to such urban legends.

One very strong speculation as regards poppy seeds is the possibility of having a positive drug test result after ingesting poppy seeds. This misconception was basically due to the fact that the resin from poppy seeds is used as a main ingredient in producing morphine, codeine, and heroine. Many people used to believe such misconception making them avoid poppy seed-containing commercial foods and home cooked meals. This propelled even further with a misleading claim that positive drug results from Opiates could also be derived from eating poppy seeds. Nonetheless, this is a just mere urban legend.

To clear out your mind, ingestion of poppy seeds is very far from leading to a positive drug test result. With the help of drug testing laboratories utilizing GC/MS or Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrmetry, poppy seeds now have a safer reputation. There are many types of drug testing processes and the previous one is mainly for confirming the Opiod class consisting of morphine, heroine, and codeine. With such test a 300 ng/ml result is expected from a person who has been eating poppy seeds. But then, the cutoff level for the Opiate Class is at 2,000 ng/ml set by the Department of Health and Human Services. In this guideline, positive results only show for persons who have been truly taking in codeine, morphine, and heroine and not those who are just fond of eating poppy seeds based products.

As you look for a job, one of the many requirements to accomplish is passing the drug test. This is one precautionary measure most employers do on any job openings. In this case, another myth on poppy seeds grew in relation to the previous one implying the possibility of losing a job opportunity through poppy seeds. By ingestion of poppy seeds on any amount, a good and stable job opportunity is simply lost due to a positive drug result. Making the case even worse, it can also gain you the title of being a drug user. This specific case may have happened to some when the cutoff level for the Opiate class was still at 300 ng/ml. As mentioned above, individuals who are fond of ingesting poppy seeds provide the same results, forcing the Department of Health and Human Services to raise such cutoff level to 2,000 ng/ml.

Nowadays, such misleading beliefs on poppy seeds are nothing but mere distractions. With a more efficient guideline, you can freely enjoy the health benefits of eating poppy seed based foods. As what most myths are, the ones mentioned above are nothing but unproven theories.

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