False Positive Drug Tests From Poppies

Poppy seeds are used in making functions such as poppy seed roll, salad dressings and other items. Consumption of these seeds can lead to false positive drug tests and that is because the seeds come from the poppy plant that contains opium. Opium is one of the natural properties of the poppy plant and even though the seeds are for cooking and baking, they have some of the properties that are the same as opium.

Even the consumption of something as innocence as poppy bagels can produce a false positive for morphine on a drug test. There have been instances where people have been fired job or put on administrative leave after failing a drug test. When in fact, after it was looked into it was not drug use, rather it was from eating foods containing poppy seeds.

Because of these false positive drug tests there have been some agencies have a cut off level for opiates in order to eliminate false positive results, because of the consumption of poppy seeds. This makes the allowance for the person that eats something with the seeds even days prior to the drug testing. This rule was put into place after people who had lost employment over the consumption of foods containing poppy seeds began challenging these false positive results legally. Upon testing of other employees who ate poppy seed foods and were tested, they found the same results in some cases the person was cleared from the positive drug test. Other cases went through the legal process in order for their name to be cleared from this positive drug test and resume their employment.

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