For those who simply love cooking, poppy seeds can be just an ordinary thing commonly found in the kitchen. To simply describe what they are, poppy seeds are very small seeds of an opium poppy taking the shape of a kidney and are harvested directly from the seedpods. Poppy seeds have been long surviving throughout human history and have been cultivated as a basic remedy on various ailments. Presently, poppy seeds for sale play a very significant role on various dishes of home cooked meals and even on commercially manufactured foods.
Through the ages, there have been some theories that evolved out of the tricky minds of some people. These theories have become myths and legends as there were no firm proofs and evidences to support its claims.
One popular myth about poppy seeds is its significant role on positive results for a drug test. Such speculation was drawn out of the fact that the poppy seed resin is one of the basic components or ingredients in the massive production of illegal drugs like heroin, morphine, and codeine. Before, a lot of people were baffled of such myth, which made them refrain from eating commercial foods with poppy seeds as its main ingredient, and even stopped using them for their home cooked meals. This is primarily because they once thought that ingesting poppy seeds could lead to a positive drug result for Opiates. But then, it still strictly remains as a myth and nothing more.
However, it is somehow far from possible to gain a positive drug test by eating foods with a poppy seed ingredient. Such firm statement is supported by various drug testing laboratories that are using Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry. These laboratories use a two step process used to confirm the presence of heroine, codeine, and morphine, which are the three main members of the Opiod class. In this process, a 300 ng/ml result is contracted from a person who has been eating poppy seeds. The Department of Health and Human Services set a cutoff level of 2,000 ng/ml for the Opiate class. Under this guideline, people who are fond of eating poppy seed based goods are safe from having a positive drug result and only those who are truly using opium based illegal drugs are confirmed.
Generally, one has to submit a drug test result when aiming for a job. This is what most employers do as one of their necessary requirements. Out of the previously mentioned myth, a new yet directly related one came out of the open insisting poppy seeds to be the main cause of a job opportunity failure. Such myth emphasizes that a job opportunity is lost due to a positive drug test result by simply eating poppy seeds on a breakfast. Even worse, having a positive drug test result gives you a shameful title of being a drug user. Such myth also generated in the previous years when the cutoff level for Opiates was still in its lowest at 300 ng/ml giving false positive results on some individuals. Such result was so alarming as ingestion of poppy seeds can also provide the same result making the Department of Health and Human Services raise the cutoff level to 2,000 ng/ml.
In our present times, believing that eating poppy seeds can cause false positive drug test results has already been strongly discouraged. With a new guideline set, such myths are already far from being true. They are just considered solely as a myth and nothing more.