Why do poppy seeds make people fail drug tests?
Opium, heroin, codeine and morphine all come from opium poppies. While poppy seeds do not actually contain any of these substances, they can become tainted with morphine during the harvesting process, according to Brittanica. In some cases, the morphine residue on the seeds, while not enough to create a high, is enough to throw off the results of a drug test, research shows.
How many poppy seeds affect a drug test?
The amount of morphine residue on poppy seeds varies depending on the country in which they were grown, the harvesting and cleaning process and other factors, making it difficult to predict exactly how many will result in a false positive. But plenty of people have seen surprising results after eating a single poppy seed bagel, muffin or other pastry, and research has shown that urine levels may remain elevated for up to two days after consumption.
For years, a morphine test was considered positive if it showed levels above 300 nanograms per millimeter. But, in part due to the number of people receiving false positives after eating poppy seeds, today most organizations look for levels of 2,000 or above, as recommended by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
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