If you are a great fan of culinary arts, perhaps poppy seeds are quite familiar with you. 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 known through many centuries and were mainly used to treat various ailments. Presently, poppy pods play a very significant role on various dishes of home cooked meals and even on commercially manufactured foods.
Through time, some strong speculations have been brought out regarding the use of poppy seeds. These misconceptions are nothing more than just myths with no firm evidence supporting its speculations.
One very strong speculation as regards poppies is the possibility of having a positive drug test result after ingesting poppy seeds. 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. Many people used to believe such misconception making them avoid poppy seed-containing commercial foods and home cooked meals. The issue became more sensitive and discomforting when it was strongly insisted that ingestion of poppy seeds on any amount could lead to a positive drug result from Opiates. Nonetheless, this is a just mere urban legend.
But then, under any circumstances, positive drug test can’t be derived or caused by ingesting poppy seeds on any amount. This was proved by drug testing laboratories that use 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. But then, the cutoff level for the Opiate Class is at 2,000 ng/ml set by the Department of Health and Human Services. 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.
In most times, drug tests are needed to fill in a vacant slot for a job. This is one precautionary measure most employers do on any job openings. 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. By ingestion of poppy seeds on any amount, a good and stable job opportunity is simply lost due to a positive drug result. 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.
Nowadays, such misleading beliefs on poppy seeds are nothing but mere distractions. With a new guideline set, such myths are already far from being true. They are just considered solely as a myth and nothing more.
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