US troops warned about poppy seeds ahead of drug tests

It’s America’s latest threat — poppy seed bagels.

The Pentagon has sent a formal warning that troops chowing down on poppy seed treats could wind up testing positive for drugs — more than 25 years after it was the punchline in a famous “Seinfeld” scene.

Gilbert Cisneros Jr., the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said that drug testing previously was able to “distinguish morphine and codeine use from poppy seed ingestion.”

But “recent data suggests certain poppy seeds varieties may have higher codeine contamination than previously reported,” he warned in the memo to the secretaries of each military department that was shared Tuesday.

While not dangerous, consumption could therefore “cause a codeine positive urinalysis result and undermine the Department’s ability to identify illicit drug use.”

“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,” Cisneros wrote.

That includes “food products and baked goods,” he stressed in a nod to popular seed-covered bagels and muffins.

The Pentagon became aware of potential problems last year, Navy Cdr. Nicole Schwegman, a Defense Department spokesperson, told USA Today.

However, it was not clear how many troops have suffered from such bagel-munching positive drug tests.

In his warning, Cisneros readily acknowledged that “concerns with poppy seeds and drug testing are not new.”

Most famously, a 1996 episode of “Seinfeld” saw Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ character, Elaine, failing just such a drug test after eating a seed-covered muffin.

But there have been numerous real-life horror stories, too, including an upstate New York mom who was separated from her newborn in 2019 after testing positive for opiates after enjoying a toasted everything bagel with cream cheese from Tim Horton’s.

Numerous other new moms have also suffered, including a Chicago woman who filed a lawsuit last year alledging that she suffered months of monitoring by state child welfare workers after such a false test.

The US Anti-Doping Agency, which controls regulations for major sporting events like the Olympics, also advises athletes “to avoid poppy seeds a few days before and during competitions.”

“Morphine and codeine can sometimes be detected in the urine up to 48 hours after ingestion of poppy seeds from some pastries, such as bagels, muffins, and cakes,” the agency warns.

The USADA stressed that “poppy seeds don’t actually contain morphine,” but “can become coated by, or absorb, opium extract during harvesting.”

Either way, “USADA cannot predict the amount of poppy seeds you can eat and remain below the testing threshold,” it warned.