Poppy Seeds: Nutrients, What Research Shows and Safety

Poppy seeds are the tiny kidney-shaped seeds of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum, family Papaveraceae). They are used whole in breads, bagels and cakes, ground into fillings, and pressed into oil. The plant also makes morphine and codeine, so this page gives the safety facts as much room as the nutrition. It keeps the culinary seed apart from tea, extracts and hype. [1][3][16]

Read this first

• The seeds do not naturally contain opium alkaloids, but they can pick them up from the plant's sap through pest damage or harvesting. EFSA (the European Food Safety Authority) said in 2011 that foods with poppy seeds could be a health concern for some consumers, and confirmed its safety reference value in a 2018 update. [2][3]
• Poppy seed tea made from unwashed seeds has been linked to overdose and death. Do not treat it as a food or a home remedy. If someone is hard to wake, breathes slowly or has blue lips after taking it, call 911 (or your local emergency number). [5][6][7]
• Eating poppy seed foods can make a urine drug test read positive for opiates. Tests cannot always tell food from medicine. [8][9][10]
• Poppy seed allergy is rare but can be severe, including anaphylaxis. [11][12][13]
• For the nutrition: USDA lists poppy seeds as high in calcium, manganese, copper and fiber per 100 g, but a spoonful is small. Studies showing that eating them prevents or treats any disease: Proper evidence not found in the sources we read.

What is in it (USDA values)

USDA lists this as "Spices, poppy seed" (SR Legacy). The household portions USDA gives are 1 teaspoon (2.8 g) and 1 tablespoon (8.8 g). The table uses the tablespoon. [1]

% Daily Value uses the FDA 2016 Daily Values and is computed from the per-100-g numbers; values vary with variety, growing place and storage. [1]

Most of the fat is polyunsaturated (28.6 g of the 41.6 g total per 100 g), and USDA lists a small amount of omega-3 ALA. [1] A review of the poppy genus reports phenolic compounds such as flavonols, but the health effects it describes come from laboratory and animal (preclinical) studies, and that review covers the whole Papaver genus, not the seed as eaten. [16]

What research says

Eaten as food vs taken as tea, extract or supplement. The culinary seeds on a bagel are a very different exposure from a tea brewed from a large amount of unwashed seeds. Doctors quoted by KFF Health News called the morphine in washed seeds such as those on an everything bagel "relatively trivial", while tea from large amounts of unwashed seeds can lead to overdose. [5] A laboratory study found that lethal amounts of morphine can be rinsed from poppy seed coats by home-brewing methods. [6]

How much is a normal serving

We did not find an official recommended serving of poppy seeds from USDA, the NHS or EFSA. USDA gives household measures only: 1 teaspoon is 2.8 g and 1 tablespoon is 8.8 g. A tablespoon has about 46 kcal. [1] This is information, not a prescription. For the alkaloid safety side, EFSA states an acute reference dose of 10 micrograms of morphine per kilogram of body weight, which it says some consumers could exceed in one serving, especially children, if the seeds are contaminated. [2][3] Cooking and baking: a laboratory study found that heat processing lowered the levels of all the alkaloids it measured compared with untreated seeds. [14] EFSA said in 2011 that washing, soaking, grinding and cooking may lower alkaloid levels, by up to about 90% with processing. [2]

Safety, allergy and medicines

• Morphine and codeine on the seeds. EFSA (2011) based its assessment on morphine, set an acute reference dose of 10 micrograms per kilogram of body weight, and said people who eat foods with large amounts of poppy seeds are likely to exceed it on at least some occasions. Condiment amounts on bread could be exceeded rarely, especially by young children. [2] In 2018 EFSA confirmed the value, added codeine (counted as 0.2 morphine equivalents) and found that seeds from varieties grown for pharmaceutical use gave exposures above the reference dose in most age groups; some exceedance also occurred at high intakes for low-alkaloid food varieties. [3]
• Germany's regulator (BfR). In 2005/2006 the Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung proposed a provisional daily upper intake of 6.3 micrograms of morphine per kilogram of body weight and a guidance value of 4 micrograms per gram of seed. It noted that washing the seeds could lower morphine drastically, and advised against excessive intake of foods with a high poppy seed content, particularly during pregnancy. [4] That opinion is older than EFSA's 2018 update; we did not read the current EU legal maximum levels, so we do not quote them.
• Pregnancy and babies. Besides BfR's advice about pregnancy [4], BfR described a case in which a baby given strained poppy seeds as a home remedy was treated for suspected opiate poisoning. Do not give poppy seed preparations to infants. [4] Anyone who is pregnant or breastfeeding can ask a clinician; see foods in pregnancy: what official bodies advise.
• Poppy seed tea. A study of tea brewed from online-bought seeds found morphine in the seeds from under 1 up to 2,788 mg/kg, and lethal amounts could be rinsed out by home-brewing. [6] A clinical review says unwashed seeds sold online can make a tea strong enough to cause effects and withdrawal if stopped, although the sale is legal in the US. [7] KFF Health News (2024) reported a young man's death in 2016 after he drank the rinse of seeds he bought online, and said the Center for Science in the Public Interest had petitioned the FDA in 2021 to limit opiate content in poppy seeds. [5] We did not read a primary source for a death count, so we give none. Taking other opioids or sedatives together raises the risk. [5]
• Drug tests. In a controlled study, 12 volunteers ate a poppy seed roll and then raw seeds with about 3.2 mg of morphine; urine morphine reached 155 to 1,408 ng/mL after the roll and 294 to 4,213 ng/mL after raw seeds. [10] In one study, 18% of urine samples after certain seed products were codeine-positive but morphine-negative at a 300 ng/mL cutoff. [8] In a 10-day daily-eating study, two of five products gave opiate-positive urine at 300 ng/mL at every time point; 65% of those samples were still codeine-positive at a 2,000 ng/mL cutoff, and none reached 15,000 ng/mL. [9] The authors conclude that seed foods cannot always be told apart from codeine use by urine levels or ratios. [8] If you must take a drug test, tell the testing program and a medical reviewer about poppy seed foods; this is information, not legal advice.
• Allergy. Poppy seed allergy is rare, but reactions can be severe. A 2006 report describes anaphylaxis after poppy seed cake and cross-sensitization with buckwheat. [13] A 2024 study of 36 sensitized patients (10 with a positive food challenge) found that poppy seed proteins cross-react with hazelnut, buckwheat and almond proteins. [11] A case report describes a boy with symptoms from inhaling poppy seed, with sensitization also to hazelnut and peanut. [12] For trouble breathing or swelling of the face or throat, call 911 (or your local emergency number). See food allergy basics and emergency signs.
• Large amounts of raw seed. One autopsy case report describes a woman who died from a bowel obstruction made of raw poppy seeds; her blood morphine was under 10 ng/mL, so the cause was not opiate poisoning. This is one case. [15]
• Medicines. We did not find a source we could read on interactions between poppy seed foods and prescription medicines, other than the added opioid risk with tea. [5]
• Choking, oxalate, kidney minerals, mold. We did not read a source on these for poppy seeds. Proper evidence not found.

Choosing, storing and food safety

• For cooking, buy seeds sold as a spice or baking ingredient. Seeds sold in bulk as unwashed or "for tea" are the product linked to harm. [5][7]
• Washing, soaking, grinding and cooking may lower alkaloid levels, according to EFSA. [2] That is not a guarantee, because levels in different batches vary widely. [6]
• For rancidity and mold in seeds in general, see storing nuts and seeds: rancidity, mold and aflatoxin.

Related pages

• What are spices?
• Nut and seed allergy basics
• Sesame seeds
• Poppy seed as a spice (flavor, baking and drug-test notes)
• Food allergy basics and emergency signs
• Foods in pregnancy: what official bodies advise
• California poppy (a different plant, not the opium poppy)