Army Says Soldiers Should Avoid Poppy Seeds in Updated Regulation over Drug-Testing Concerns

A new Army regulation is advising soldiers to avoid eating foods with poppy seeds over concerns that troops could inadvertently fail a drug screening.

While poppy seeds are often an ingredient in baked goods and pastries, they also -- depending on how they are harvested and processed -- can contain opium alkaloids such as morphine and codeine, which are Schedule II drugs with potential for abuse and are banned for service members to use under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Much like the plot of an episode of the hit 1990s sitcom "Seinfeld" where Elaine fails a work drug test after eating poppy seed muffins, Army officials worry that ingesting foods with poppy seeds can lead to codeine showing up in a drug test.

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"Soldiers are encouraged to avoid consuming foods containing poppy seeds, as newer seeds variety may contain elevated levels of codeine," the updated regulation states. "Although drug testing laboratories have implemented additional measures to distinguish poppy seeds ingestion from codeine misuse, soldiers should make every effort to avoid these food products."

Spokespeople for the Army did not respond to questions sent to them Tuesday asking about the policy.

The Army's new regulation follows a Department of Defense memo last year that shared a similar warning. Military.com previously reported the Pentagon became aware of the issue in 2022 and began investigating some codeine-positive drug screenings since 2019.

"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," Gil Cisneros, then the defense under secretary for personnel and readiness, wrote in the 2023 memo. "As more information becomes available, we will revise this policy accordingly."

Notably, the Army made some changes in January 2023 by suspending codeine reporting for the Military Personnel Drug Abuse Testing Program, according to a press release in June.

The release detailed that earlier this year the testing program increased the codeine cutoff rate from 2,000 ng/mL to 4,000 ng/mL in hopes it would "mitigate false positive results for military service members."

"These changes will significantly reduce the risk of a codeine-positive result from normal consumption of food products containing poppy seeds," Carolyn Massiah, substance misuse specialist with the Directorate of Prevention, Resilience and Readiness, said in the release.

Eric Carpenter, a former military lawyer who is now a law professor at Florida International University, told Military.com in an interview on Wednesday that the change is a good move, saying it sends a clear warning to troops who don't want to see themselves in a situation where they may test positive for a substance.

"Word will get out that you can't order poppy seeds anymore, and then everybody kind of knows, and it gives everybody a bright line," Carpenter said, "Which is, don't go anywhere near that, because it might show up on your drug test."

The issue with poppy seeds has also made its way to Congress, with House and Senate proposals filed late last year seeking to stop the distribution and production of contaminated seeds, as well as stopping the sale of food containing them.

The Drug Enforcement Agency said in a 2019 notice that at least 12 deaths "have been reported in the scientific literature associated with use of unwashed poppy seed tea."

The Army's latest policy update comes as service members continue to face pitfalls with unintentional exposure to banned substances in everyday settings.

Late last month, Military.com reported that vitamin, health supplement and nutrient retailer GNC had pulled a protein supplement from the shelves of its stores on military bases after it was discovered that it contained protein from hemp seed -- another banned substance for service members.

Related: Protein Shakes Pulled from Military Base GNC Stores Because They Contained Hemp Seeds