Update of the Scientific Opinion on opium alkaloids in poppy seeds

Abstract

Poppy seeds are obtained from the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.). They are used as food and to produce edible oil. The opium poppy plant contains narcotic alkaloids such as morphine and codeine. Poppy seeds do not contain the opium alkaloids, but can become contaminated with alkaloids as a result of pest damage and during harvesting. The European Commission asked EFSA to provide an update of the Scientific Opinion on opium alkaloids in poppy seeds. The assessment is based on data on morphine, codeine, thebaine, oripavine, noscapine and papaverine in poppy seed samples. The CONTAM Panel confirms the acute reference dose (ARfD) of 10 lg morphine/kg body weight (bw) and concluded that the concentration of codeine in the poppy seed samples should be taken into account by converting codeine to morphine equivalents, using a factor of 0.2. The ARfD is therefore a group ARfD for morphine and codeine, expressed in morphine equivalents. Mean and high levels of dietary exposure to morphine equivalents from poppy seeds considered to have high levels of opium alkaloids (i.e. poppy seeds from varieties primarily grown for pharmaceutical use) exceed the ARfD in most age groups. For poppy seeds considered to have relatively low concentrations of opium alkaloids (i.e. primarily varieties for food use), some exceedance of the ARfD is also seen at high levels of dietary exposure in most surveys. For noscapine and papaverine, the available data do not allow making a hazard characterisation. However, comparison of the dietary exposure to the recommended therapeutical doses does not suggest a health concern for these alkaloids. For thebaine and oripavine, no risk characterisation was done due to insufficient data. However, for thebaine, limited evidence indicates a higher acute lethality than for morphine and the estimated exposure could present a health risk.

Opium Alkaloids in Harvested and Thermally Processed Poppy Seeds

“…The range is provided to show the extent of the variation and is in keeping with other publications of this nature (López et al, 2018). There is much variation in the extracted opiate compounds, which is primarily due to the environmental differences of the seeds (Katrine et al, 2018;Lahiri et al, 2018). The country of origin for both of these poppy seed sources is unknown.…”

“…Recently, the EFSA published an update on these guidelines (Katrine et al, 2018). This update related to the detection of morphine, codeine, oripavine, noscapine, and papaverine in poppy seed samples whereas, the previous report related only to the levels of morphine entering the food chain.…”

Commentary: Opium Alkaloids in Harvested and Thermally Processed Poppy Seeds

“…Because Carlin et al analyzed seeds scraped from the top of the finished baked product, it is plausible that the reported loss of alkaloids might be due to transfer of alkaloids from the surface of the seeds to the batter. Opium alkaloids in poppy seeds can be significantly reduced by washing the surface of the seeds, but lack of reported recovery experiments by the authors leave unanswered whether losses are "true losses" due to degradation of the alkaloid compounds, or are an artifact of the compounds simply transferring to the batter (CONTAM Panel et al, 2018;Powers et al, 2018;Shetge et al, 2020). We hypothesize that follow-up experiments taking into account recovery may find higher alkaloid concentrations in the baked product than initially reported.…”

“…Still, as researchers we believe that it is critical to note where the data do not support conclusions made by Carlin et al in order to help drive this field forward. Further, as published data on reduction of opium alkaloids in poppy seeds has been used by governmental bodies to provide safety and processing recommendations in this area (CONTAM Panel et al, 2018), it is imperative that carefully designed experiments be performed in order to meaningfully inform such guidance. Values are shown as means ± SD (n 3 independent replicates).…”

Poppy Intoxication in Infants and Children: Hazards of a Folk Remedy

“…Morphine can also cause apnoea and seizures in neonates and infants. 8 Other common alkaloid found in poppy is codeine. Intoxication of codeine has almost same symptoms as those of morphine, showing metabolism of codeine to morphine.…”