Grow your culinary adventures with the addition of our premium seeds. Poppy Seeds are one of the most commonly used food products across all cultures in history, and have been so for more than a millennium. These versatile seeds can be used to spice up many dishes or can also be ground into powder to make poppy-seed cake, muffins, pastries and other delightful desserts that every sweet tooth will love! They are as diverse in their uses as they are endearing. For more uses of these versatile seeds click here.
The poppy seed has a lot to offer. They're used in food production, for spicing and baking, and pairing with breads are also now used as an alternative to salt on salads. Our Poppy Seeds come in different sizes and packaging, making them perfect for every occasion. Containing only 100% unwashed blue poppies, they are safe for you and your family's use.
Please read about scientific reasons to eat the seeds here.
An essential ingredient for creating a variety of culinary dishes, these poppy seeds are harvested in Australia due to their impeccable taste. These unprocessed seeds come with all the natural goodness that you would expect from such beautiful produce! Our premium seeds are unwashed, just mechanically cleaned.
Poppy seeds are a type of small, edible seed. They grow on poppy plants, typically in pods with just 2 or 3 seeds per pod. The Seeds have always been known for their use as food additives as well as a natural sweetener. They can be used to make breads or brownies and offer that added richness that adds to the finished product. For those looking for something different when it comes to cooking dinner, try adding poppy seed spice to your egg salad instead of salt! The possibilities are endless!
With Poppy Seeds from Premium Spices, your baked goods will be satisfyingly spiced and sprinkled with a pinch of perfect colour. Unlike most other seeds on the market, our Poppies are approved for human consumption by farmers who care about such things as quality, purity and taste.
Poppy Seeds are the perfect little seeds to use in your cooking to add colour, flavour and texture. They can be used as a topping for muffins, cakes or other confectionaries. You can also get creative with these small black-speckled seeds in jams and sauces. Spice up your dishes by adding seeds into them, from pancakes to salads!
These seeds produce a crop with lots of protein and a perfect crunch,
-2X more fibre than other seeds including flaxseeds, giving you better digestion and softer stool to see all day
Industrial bakers from coveted bakeries like Harvest Bread use poppy seeds to create pastries with a roasted nutty flavour.
Poppy seeds are a main ingredient for many dishes. They are both nutritious and flavourful, so you can't go wrong with these. From delightful pastries to upstanding breakfast meats, it seems impossible not to love the poppy seeds as they bring happiness to your palate. Plus, if you've ever been in an American kitchen before- chances are high that there were some homemade poppyseed cookies on the table or in the cabinet! Grab a bag of poppy seeds today without any fear because they're one of the safest products out there when it comes to food. With health benefits like calcium supplementation, protein engagement and even just satisfying hunger cravings- what's not to love about these wonderful seeds!
For more information and the The History of Poppy Seed Cultivation read our blog.
Are poppy seeds a drug?
Opiates work by binding to opioid receptors in the brain. These drugs and their metabolites are lipid soluble and quickly cross the blood-brain barrier. Once they reach the brain, these chemicals mimic or block neurotransmitters like endorphins, which inhibit pain transmission at their sites of action. The inhibition of this process results in pain relief as well as similar effects to those produced by naturally occurring substances such as increased appetite, nausea suppression/anti-emetic properties, euphoria, respiratory depression, constipation suppression/anti-constipative effects and physical dependence, among others. While these positive effects can be beneficial to a patient, it is important not to forget that opiates are still classified as narcotics and have the potential for abuse.
As everyone with a basic knowledge of biology knows, poppy seeds come from the opium poppy plant, Papaver somniferum . The mature seed pod of this plant contains a high concentration of these psychoactive chemicals. When the seed pod is incised while still on the plant, a sticky white latex oozes out, which dries into a yellow-brown resin while exposed to air. This dried sap can then be collected and processed into morphine or codeine, both opiate alkaloids, for medicinal use. In most cases, however, this process doesn't leave any of the psychoactive chemicals in the dried product. This is because they are quite unstable and degrade rather quickly into non-toxic, inactive metabolites.
These alkaloids are found in the seed pods, which contain 65-80% of these chemicals. The seeds themselves contain about 1.5-3% morphine and 0.4-2% codeine by mass (of dry weight).
*Poppy Seed Consumption safe and risk-free*
These chemicals, as well as their metabolites and breakdown products, can be safely consumed in dried and ground poppy seeds at levels up to 200 milligrams per kilogram of an individual's bodyweight. The safe consumption limit for morphine is between 120-320mg/kg/day while the codeine consumption limit is set at 30mg/kg for an average adult. As most people know, poppy seed consumption does not result in any sort of narcotic effect at these levels. This is because they are metabolised very quickly into non-active alkaloid compounds. They have been found to generally leave the body within 10 hours of ingestion, though some trace elements can be detected up to four days later depending on
*Poppy Seed Tea*
Although there have been no established cases of people becoming high from ingesting poppy seeds, some people still claim to experience effects which may be attributed to opium ingestion. Some people make poppy seed tea by placing a few teaspoons of dry, unwashed seeds (to maximize alkaloid content) into boiling water. Some people use other substances to flavour the tea, such as lemon or sugar. These chemicals are added because the unprocessed seed pod contains not only similar chemicals to those found in opiate drugs, but poisons and noxious odours which can cause discomfort when ingested. The cooking process used for most poppy seed products removes these harmful properties effectively. We do not recommend drinking poppy seed tea! Though poppy seed tea has become popular among drug users as a means of getting intoxicated on opiates without experiencing "watered down" effects, it actually contains no morphine or codeine molecules. The only potentially psychoactive substance contained within poppies (note: not limited to this species) is called papaverine , an alkaloidal chemical that produces respiratory depression but no euphoria.]
The amount of opiates contained in poppy seeds is so minute that it would be impossible to experience a high from ingesting them. Because of this, the only dangers associated with eating poppy seed products are related to their potential interactions when combined with other prescription medications. It is always best to check with your doctor before ingesting any new foods or medicines that have not been prescribed to you.
Though poppy seeds can potentially interact with some medications, it is unlikely that they will cause any harmful effects if taken in moderate doses. It has also been shown that eating poppy seed products decreases the rate of metabolism for many drugs due to their protein content, which means more medicine is entering the bloodstream at once. This may lead to negative side effects, so it is important to be aware of how different foods and medicines will react together when combined.
Eating poppy seeds in excessive amounts can result in mild narcotic effects due to very minute traces of opiates being present but are generally considered safe if consumed within normal, recommended dietary amounts.
As mentioned earlier, poppy seeds are often included on the ingredient label of some common foods. They can be found in breads, bagels, cakes, muffins, rolls, doughnuts, cookies/pastries/biscuits, breakfast cereals (such as Pop Tarts), ice cream, yoghurt, beverages (including beer and grape juice), salad dressings & condiments (such as chilli sauce) and even candies.
For more ideas how to make poppy seeds a part of your diet see our blog post abou the subject.