WASHINGTON – Back away from the baked goods, Doughboy.
That’s the warning from the Pentagon to its 1.3 million active-duty soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines amid fresh concerns that tainted poppy seeds could prompt troops to pop hot on drug tests for codeine after eating bagels or muffins.
“Recent data suggests certain poppy seeds varieties may have higher codeine contamination than previously reported,” said the warning from Gilbert Cisneros, the Pentagon’s top official for personnel.
That bad bagel “could cause a codeine positive urinalysis result and undermine the Department’s ability to identify illicit drug use,” Cisneros wrote.
Hence Cisneros’ warning: “The Military Departments are hereby directed to notify Service members to avoid consumption of all poppy seeds to include food products and baked goods containing poppy seeds.”
The seeds come from poppy plants, a commercial crop cultivated by the drug and food industries for pharmaceuticals and spices. The seeds can become contaminated during the harvest with morphine and codeine, according to the memo.
“Research shows that morphine and codeine can sometimes be detected in the urine up to 48 hours after ingestion of poppy seeds from some pastries, such as bagels, muffins, and cakes,” according to the web site of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, the national organization for U.S. Olympic sports.
The anti-doping agency urges athletes to avoid poppy seeds a few days before and during competition to avoid positive tests.
The Pentagon became aware of potential problems with poppy seeds in 2022, said Navy Cdr. Nicole Schwegman, a Defense department spokesperson.
Since then, the Pentagon has contracted with an independent laboratory to test codeine and morphine contamination in a several brands, Schwegman said. That analysis and other studies led to the Feb. 17 warning from Cisneros.
It’s not clear how many troops may have had tests affected by bad poppy seeds. The Pentagon is reviewing codeine-only positive drug tests dating back to 2019, Schwegman said.
“The amount of poppy seeds consumed, concentration of codeine detected in urine and time of consumption relative to the drug test are also important factors,” Schwegman said. “As we gather more information, we will reassess and update as appropriate.”