Poppyseeds now low in morphine
A common excuse for getting fired is about to go away, if one U.K. specialty foods company has its way.
FDL, a company that supplies the food service industry, has created a lowmorphine poppyseed that won’t influence the results of a drug test.
Believe it or not, it’s no urban legend: Eating a poppyseed bagel before a drug test can get you fired.
Testing can rule out heroin, but not other opiates, according to the New York Times.
This gave rise to the “poppyseed defence” as a way of explaining away a drug test result — whether that excuse was honest or not.
In 1998, the limit for morphine was raised to 2,000 nanograms per millilitre to ward off some of these false positives (previously, it was 300 nanograms per millilitre). But if you eat a lot of poppyseed cake and other baked goods, you could still test in that range.
Baking companies have been “concerned about this for a while because it has the potential to have a negative impact on their brand image,” Gareth Elwin, FDL divisional director, told Food Navigator.
FDL was inspired to make the poppy seeds after a number of high-profile incidents that resulted in positive drug tests, including one from a 72-year-old British TV reporter.
Most poppy seeds have morphine levels at 900 parts per million. But FDL’s seeds have morphine levels at fewer than 20 parts per million — far less than what would show up on a drug test, according to Food Navigator.
Elwin also told Food Navigator that the company has already signed a deal with a bread company. FDL did not immediately respond to an inquiry about when and where the poppy seeds will be available.
In the meantime, maybe lay off the everything-bagels (and the “everything” everything else, since the spice mix has become increasingly popular lately), if your workplace does regular drug testing.
But fear not! Help is on the horizon.