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WARNING contaminated poppy seeds in Australia

Tronica

Executive Director
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Mar 12, 2002
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4,408
Hey everyone

If anyone is using poppy seeds to make opium poppy tea, this warning is for you - it sounds like some batches of supermarket poppy seeds are contaminated. People have been hospitalised recently with thebaine in their systems, which is not supposed to find its way into the food system.

The poppy seed reddit has a warning and a number of recent cases. See more here:

Best avoid supermarket-bought poppy seeds for this purpose!

Edit to add batch number “Apparently Batch No 28622BN is one to be especially wary of.” But I can’t verify whether this is true or whether other batches are also to be avoided.

Stay safe everyone.

Tronica
 
Last edited:
Hey everyone

If anyone is using poppy seeds to make opium poppy tea, this warning is for you - it sounds like some batches of supermarket poppy seeds are contaminated. People have been hospitalised recently with thebaine in their systems, which is not supposed to find its way into the food system.

Can confirm that a close mate of mine was very sick in Adelaide and was admitted to RAH overnight not in a good way. I had literally just signed up on here to give the same warning when I read this comment.

If it goes yellow immediately and tastes acrid/like shit please tip it out straight away.

The packets are not labelled as Australian (Norman) they are labelled as 'imported product'. Think the batch ends in 22.

I don't think this is on purpose because using a jar of these in a poppy seed cake would be enough to provoke a serious adrenaline reaction in the consumer.
 
Yes have also been told that the culprit is an import.

Crazy when we have ample poppies growing in Tasmania that any one would import poppy seeds into Australia.

Poppies (opioids for pharma) being one of our key exports!
 
Yes have also been told that the culprit is an import.

Crazy when we have ample poppies growing in Tasmania that any one would import poppy seeds into Australia

But isn't it the case that the Tassie ones are mostly Normans and therefore all contaminated with thebaine so that they're inedible and burned up annually? I thought that is why the company in question imported them. I always wonder when I see people saying they use Tassie seeds why they aren't getting ill. I might have grasped the wrong end of the nettle here and appreciate your advice.

The only good thing in all of this is that the mixes of the thebaine seeds are disgusting to taste, have a definite and appalling odour and mouth feel, generally cause immediate emesis and are able to be disposed of straight away on that basis. But please don't let them grow in your garden because next year you'll be sick as a pig if you use the wrong pods. Straight to trash.

Also, my experiments indicate that the batch numbers are not demonstrative in any way and you can bet multiple seed sources are entering the same batches. The batch numbers are likely to do with shit on the packaging line like broken glass, or loose bolts falling into seed packets. They have absolutely nothing to do with the sourcing of the seeds. So if you're going to keep using the known brand, please mix every single packet or tub in a separate vessel of water, taste a tiny amount first, and keep a supply of Valium or xanax to hand should you require an anti-seizure route while waiting for the EMS.
 
keep a supply of Valium or xanax to hand should you require an anti-seizure route while waiting for the EMS.
Sorry but further to this when my mate went into the RAH they diagnosed an adrenaline reaction and gave large amts of IV Valium to stop muscle spasm and avoid a tonic clinic seizure. Wouldn't narcan have been a better immediate solution? I thought thebaine was an opiate like morphine and would have responded to narcan?

He must have been one of the first seizure cases because Poisons had no idea about it and just recommended treatment based on an adrenaline response protocol.
 
Sorry but further to this when my mate went into the RAH they diagnosed an adrenaline reaction and gave large amts of IV Valium to stop muscle spasm and avoid a tonic clinic seizure. Wouldn't narcan have been a better immediate solution? I thought thebaine was an opiate like morphine and would have responded to narcan?

He must have been one of the first seizure cases because Poisons had no idea about it and just recommended treatment based on an adrenaline response protocol.

Given thebaine causes symptoms very different to regular opioid overdose, it wouldn‘t surprise me if it has affects on the body beyond the usual opioid receptors narcan blocks.

So, quite possibly not.

Stay safe everyone. :)
 
@Tronica - thank you very much for sharing. The work you do for this site doesn't go unappreciated.


@The_Situation - Damn it! Although I generally get my pain relief products elsewhere, I do sometimes use supermarket poppy seeds to bridge the supply gap and hate it when they are cast into the spotlight.

When they rescheduled low-dose codeine products; drugs which had been sold over the counter in Australia, without hazard, for many years, people then had to go a doctor or through the red tape of pain management where they would either get higher doses of codeine, similarly addictive gabapentinoids, or, just as likely; oxycodone or another stronger opioid!

Many people turned to poppy seeds, which, unlike codeine, is not a pharmaceutically pure product, contains an unpredictable amount of opiates (and potential poisons apparently), then produces extensively drawn-out withdrawal symptoms. This is something that codeine didn't do to me.

I don't think I've ever admitted this; either on this site or even to myself, but I am an opioid addict. Before the crackdown on codeine, I was a guy who treated pain with codeine containing remedies, when needed.

Now people are getting poisoned and I have been a daily user of opioids that aren't so easy to just take on an 'as needed' basis.

Maybe soon, $5 bags of fentanyl and xylazine will be on the streets of Australia too, and our government can pat themselves on the back for taking those dreaded 15mg Panadeine tablets off the shelves and saving lives.


Apologies if this rant seems off course to the primary subject here, but to me, there is a very clear relation.
 
The whole thing highlights the absurdity of prohibition doesn’t it?
That pretty much sums up my bitter, disjointed rant, yes.

I'm honestly scared to even seek medical help for my habit, because I'm worried that it will affect the way doctors prescribe to me for the rest of my life.
 
@Kaden_Nite Sending hugs to you. I can understand your concern. Getting the right doctor would be great, but you just can't tell whether they will be helpful or a hindrance. Which sucks for sure.

One thing worth doing could be calling or text chatting with counsellingonline.org.au - Australian anonymous AOD counselling and referral service. As at least you can discuss with them and they may be able to refer you to a service that specialises in this and potentially get you some legal opioid subsitution meds.
 
Can confirm that a close mate of mine was very sick in Adelaide and was admitted to RAH overnight not in a good way. I had literally just signed up on here to give the same warning when I read this comment.

If it goes yellow immediately and tastes acrid/like shit please tip it out straight away.

The packets are not labelled as Australian (Norman) they are labelled as 'imported product'. Think the batch ends in 22.

I don't think this is on purpose because using a jar of these in a poppy seed cake would be enough to provoke a serious adrenaline reaction in the consumer.
Can you possibly get a batch number from this bad batch?
It'll be on the lid or back of packet.
So far the only info provided is that it ends in 22 which doesn't help as all batches from this year end in 22
I just went to the supermarket and seen 3 different batch numbers all ending in 22. The companies website has no info,the government health website has no batch number info so if any affected person who has a bad batch number can you please inform us here so we can avoid accidents.
 
Can you possibly get a batch number from this bad batch?
It'll be on the lid or back of packet.
So far the only info provided is that it ends in 22 which doesn't help as all batches from this year end in 22
I just went to the supermarket and seen 3 different batch numbers all ending in 22. The companies website has no info,the government health website has no batch number info so if any affected person who has a bad batch number can you please inform us here so we can avoid accidents.
This is second hand info I’m copying from a FB thread. “Apparently Batch No 28622BN is one to be especially wary of.”
 
This is second hand info I’m copying from a FB thread. “Apparently Batch No 28622BN is one to be especially wary of.”
Thank you this is exactly what ppl need to know.if u can keep an eye on fb to see if anymore bn info comes up it'll go a long way in terms of harm reduction
 
Thank you this is exactly what ppl need to know.if u can keep an eye on fb to see if anymore bn info comes up it'll go a long way in terms of harm reduction
Hope it’s helpful, but also do report back what batches supermarkets are holding. Are they all this one?
I’m surprised we don’t have a food recall TBH.
 
Hope it’s helpful, but also do report back what batches supermarkets are holding. Are they all this one?
I’m surprised we don’t have a food recall TBH.
Food recalls are often printed in newspapers and magazines/junkmail
never really seen warnings anywhere else.
 
This is second hand info I’m copying from a FB thread. “Apparently Batch No 28622BN is one to be especially wary of.”
Just seen 4 jars of batch number 28622 on the shelves of a big supermarket in Qld's biggest city.
 
Also in a different supermarket I just seen a yellow warning sticker taped over the price tag of the seeds that reads:
Talk to department manager for further instructions before filling.
All product in first two supermarkets were removed
 
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