Letter requesting update on petition on opiate contamination in poppy seeds

In February of 2021, CSPI asked the FDA to clean up America’s poppy seed supply by setting a maximum limit for opiate contamination and establishing controls on imported seeds. A year later, CSPI is asking the FDA for an update on the petition.

CSPI seeks update from FDA on poppy petition

A year ago the Center for Science in the Public Interest urged the Food and Drug Administration to protect consumers from unprocessed poppy seeds contaminated with naturally occurring opiate residues.

The Dark Side of Poppy Seeds: Potential Opiate Contamination

On April 3rd, 2016, the Hacala family’s world shattered with a simple knock on the door. On this seemingly average Sunday, a police officer informed Steve and Betty Hacala that their son, Stephen Patrick Hacala Jr., had died unexpectedly in his apartment at the age of 24.

Injured families ask FDA to keep poppy seed imports free from dangerous levels of opiates

Petition to establish a maximum limit of opiate alkaloid contamination of poppy seeds

Consumption of opiate alkaloid contaminated poppy seeds poses a substantial public health threat that has been overlooked as a component of the larger opioid epidemic. In this petition, we request that the Commissioner of Food and Drugs issue regulations and guidance establishing a maximum limit of opiate alkaloid contamination of poppy seeds, as well as issue an import alert and take other necessary actions to ensure the safety of imported poppy seeds.

Opiates in our food supply?

When poppy producers fail to follow important processing steps to reduce opiate contamination, poppy seeds pose risks to consumers. Exposure to contaminated poppy seeds in food can result in unintentional intoxication and false positive drug tests. People may also use the opiates in contaminated poppy seeds for the purpose of intoxication, or to provide claimed health benefits including the treatment of pain, anxiety, and opioid withdrawal. To address the harms posed by contaminated poppy seeds, the Center for Science in the Public Interest is urging federal authorities to take action by setting and enforcing maximum limits for opiate content, and removing contaminated seeds from the market.

Overdoses from contaminated poppy seeds suggest need for action by FDA, DEA

Adverse events from the consumption of opiate-laced poppy seeds may be on the rise, according to a new study from researchers at the Center for Science in the Public Interest and Connecticut Poison Control Center using three national databases and published today in Clinical Toxicology.

Letter to the Surgeon General re: Contaminated "unwashed" poppy seeds

The Center for Science in the Public Interest is asking U.S. Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams to issue an advisory urging Americans to avoid the purchase and consumption of contaminated poppy seeds (often described as “unwashed” poppy seeds) and poppy seed pods.

CSPI Letter to FDA and DEA re: Unwashed Poppy Seeds

CSPI urges FDA, DEA to crack down on sale of contaminated poppy seeds

The Center for Science in the Public Interest today is calling on the Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration to crack down on the sale of contaminated poppy seeds and seed pods in the wake of at least 12 American deaths.