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Herb library · Spice · Papaver somniferum

Poppy seed

The tiny blue-black or white seeds of the opium poppy, baked into breads and pastries and ground into fillings. The seeds themselves carry little or no opium, but unwashed seeds can be coated with morphine and codeine. Tea brewed from them has caused dependence, poisonings and deaths, and even baked goods can make a urine drug test read positive.

Serious warning

Tea made from unwashed poppy seeds contains variable, sometimes lethal, amounts of morphine and other opium alkaloids. A 2021 study of U.S. poison-center and FDA reports counted at least 19 U.S. deaths linked to poppy seeds, most from poppy seed tea, and in Australia in 2022–23 a batch of high-thebaine seeds in the food supply caused 40 poisonings, two cardiac arrests and one death.

Traditional use

Eaten for thousands of years across Europe, the Middle East and South Asia: in Central European poppy-seed rolls and cakes, in Turkish poppy-seed paste (sometimes more than 100 g at a meal), and in South Asian cooking as khus khus. Unwashed or "unprocessed" seeds are sold online and brewed into tea by people seeking an opioid effect or relief from pain or opioid withdrawal.

What studies show

  • Limited

    Drug tests: studies in people show that eating poppy seeds can make urine test positive for opiates. In a Turkish study, 10 adults who ate 100 g of poppy-seed paste tested positive for up to 48 hours at the 300 ng/mL cutoff and up to 12 hours at the higher 2,000 ng/mL cutoff.

  • Limited

    Poppy seed tea: lab studies that brewed tea the way people describe online found widely varying morphine and codeine, in some batches at levels that could matter clinically (up to about 19,500 ng/mL of morphine), and a 2018 study concluded that lethal amounts of morphine can be rinsed from the seed coats. Case reports describe opioid dependence managed with buprenorphine, and withdrawal in a newborn whose mother drank the tea daily through pregnancy.

Be careful of

Cautions

  • NoteDo not brew tea from poppy seeds or buy "unwashed" or "unprocessed" seeds. The amount of morphine, codeine and thebaine in a batch cannot be known at home, and people have died.
  • PregnancyPoppy seed tea in pregnancy has caused opioid withdrawal in a newborn. Seeds in ordinary baked goods are a different matter, but tell your prenatal clinician if you eat large amounts.
  • NoteIf you face workplace, legal or sports drug testing, poppy-seed foods eaten in the days before can cause a positive opiate result. Tell the testing program what you ate.
  • ConditionPeople in recovery from opioid use: opioid recovery clinicians are advised to watch for to poppy seed tea used for pain or withdrawal. Talk to your care team rather than using it.
  • AmountVery large amounts of raw seeds can block the bowel: a medical examiner reported a death from a bowel obstruction made of poppy seeds (with no opioid poisoning).
  • Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using this if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving it to a child.

Sources

  1. Opioid exposure associated with poppy consumption reported to poison control centers and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (Clin Toxicol (Phila), 2021) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  2. A cluster of acute thebaine poisonings from non-food grade poppy seeds in the Australian food supply (Clin Toxicol (Phila), 2023) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  3. Morphine Concentrations in Human Urine Following Poppy Seed Paste Consumption (Forensic Sci Int, 2019) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  4. The Extraction of Morphine and Codeine by Brewing Poppy Seed Tea using Real-World Quantities and Methods (J Med Toxicol, 2026) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  5. Quantification of Morphine, Codeine, and Thebaine in Home-Brewed Poppy Seed Tea by LC-MS/MS (J Forensic Sci, 2018) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  6. Opioid Use Disorder from Poppy Seed Tea Use: A Case Report (Am J Case Rep, 2023) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  7. Maternal Poppy Seed Tea Ingestion and Ensuing Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (Neonatology, 2020) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  8. Death Due to Complications of Bowel Obstruction Following Raw Poppy Seed Ingestion (J Forensic Sci, 2018) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026

Reviewed September 25, 2026.