The plant
Papaver somniferum was named by Linnaeus in 1753 and belongs to the poppy family, Papaveraceae. It is an annual of about a metre tall, with grey-green, slightly waxy leaves and stems. The flowers are 8 to 18 cm across, usually with four petals in red, white or mauve, often with a dark blotch at the base of each petal. Garden forms with double, peony-like flowers exist as well.
After flowering, the ovary swells into a smooth, round capsule. On top sits a flat crown with 12 to 18 radiating rays, the remains of the stigma. All parts of the plant release a white latex when they are cut or damaged. The capsule is where that latex matters most: dried, it is opium, which contains morphine, codeine, thebaine, papaverine and noscapine.
The plant has been grown for a very long time. Seed remains from Neolithic sites in the western Mediterranean and west of the Rhine date from before about 5000 BC.
The seed
A ripe capsule holds a large number of tiny seeds. Each is under a millimetre long, kidney-shaped, with a pitted, honeycomb-like surface. About 3,300 of them weigh one gram. The seed is rich in oil, around 40 percent of its weight.
Three colours are traded:
- Blue or slate-grey, the usual seed in Central and Eastern European baking.
- White or ivory, common in Indian and Middle Eastern cooking, where it thickens sauces without darkening them.
- Black, used where the seed should stand out visually, such as on bread crusts.
None of the sources we used links seed colour to alkaloid content. What does matter is the variety, the harvest and the cleaning, explained on the page why poppy seeds can carry morphine.
Where poppy seeds are grown
According to FAO figures for 2018, the world produced about 76,000 tonnes of poppy seed. Turkey grew the most (about 27,000 tonnes), followed by the Czech Republic (about 13,700 tonnes) and Spain (about 12,400 tonnes). The Czech Republic is the largest exporter, followed by Hungary, the Netherlands and Turkey (World Bank trade data for 2024).
Pharmaceutical poppy is a separate, licensed crop. Australia (Tasmania), Turkey and India are the main sources of the alkaloids used in medicines. When EFSA assessed poppy seeds in food, seed from these high-alkaloid varieties gave by far the highest morphine exposure.
How kitchens use poppy seeds
Poppy seed is a staple in parts of Europe and Asia, mostly ground and sweetened or sprinkled whole.
| Region | Typical use |
|---|---|
| Germany, Austria | Mohnkuchen, poppy seed rolls and pastries |
| Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Slovakia | Ground poppy seed fillings, Christmas Eve desserts, makowiec |
| Jewish baking | Hamantaschen with poppy seed filling for Purim |
| India, Bangladesh | White seed (posto, khus khus) in korma and aloo posto |
| North America | Bagels, muffins, salad dressings |
A filled cake uses far more seed than a topping. That difference matters for drug tests and for the EU's safety assessment: a poppy seed strudel can contain many times the seed of a bagel.
Poppy seeds and food safety
The seed is a normal food in the EU, the UK and the US. The drug laws of the Netherlands, Germany, the UK and the US expressly exclude it. Food law then takes over. In the EU, poppy seeds sold to consumers must stay below a maximum level of opium alkaloids, explained on the page on EU morphine limits.
Where to go next
- Why poppy seeds can carry morphine
- Can poppy seeds make you fail a drug test
- Is the opium poppy legal to grow or own
Updated