A Maryland woman who tested positive for opiates while giving birth to her daughter in April has thrust the “poppy seed bagel defense” back into the spotlight. 
 
 “I was in labor. I was sitting in the bed. I was having contractions. I was on a Pitocin drip, and the doctor came in and said, ‘You’ve tested positive for opiates,'” Elizabeth Eden told WBAL TV11. 
 
 Eden, who had eaten a poppy seed bagel that morning, says she remembered hearing that poppy seeds — which come from opium poppies — can lead to false positives on drug tests, and told the doctor about her breakfast choice. She told WBAL that her request to be retested was denied, and that she was reported to the state. 
 
 As a result, her daughter, Beatrice, was required to stay in the hospital for five days, and a case worker was assigned to monitor Eden’s behavior. The case worker eventually closed Eden’s file, but the new mother called the experience “traumatizing,” WBAL reports. 
 
 Traumatizing though it may have been, however, Eden isn’t alone. Here’s a quick history of the poppy seed bagel defense. 
 
 Why do poppy seeds make people fail drug tests? 
 
 Opium, heroin, codeine and morphine all come from opium poppies. While poppy seeds do not actually contain any of these substances, they can become tainted with morphine during the harvesting process, according to Brittanica. In some cases, the morphine residue on the seeds, while not enough to create a high, is enough to throw off the results of a drug test, research shows. 
 
 How many poppy seeds affect a drug test? 
 
 The amount of morphine residue on poppy seeds varies depending on the country in which they were grown, the harvesting and cleaning process and other factors, making it difficult to predict exactly how many will result in a false positive. But plenty of people have seen surprising results after eating a single poppy seed bagel, muffin or other pastry, and research has shown that urine levels may remain elevated for up to two days after consumption. 
 
 For years, a morphine test was considered positive if it showed levels above 300 nanograms per millimeter. But, in part due to the number of people receiving false positives after eating poppy seeds, today most organizations look for levels of 2,000 or above, as recommended by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The hospital where Eden gave birth, however, was still using the more stringent testing specifications, WBAL reports. 
 
 Does the “poppy seed bagel defense” work in court? 
 
 The defense — made famous by an episode of Seinfeld — has worked in instances where the defendant can prove that they ate a product containing poppy seeds, and passes subsequent drug screens. 
 
 In 2013, a Pennsylvania woman who had her newborn daughter taken away by the state after eating a poppy seed bagel and failing a hospital drug test won $143,500 in court. The following year, the same county paid out $160,000 after a woman who ate poppy seeds in a pasta salad and failed a drug test lost her newborn for 75 days. 
 
 But an ongoing case proves the issue isn’t always so cut-and-dry. A New York City jail guard who failed a urine test after he says he ate a poppy seed bagel was suspended from his job in 2016, the Washington Post reports. He passed subsequent drug tests, and when his case went to court this spring, the Post reports, the judge recommended that disciplinary action against the guard be dismissed. But the Department of Corrections moved to fire the guard anyway, the New York Post reports. 
 
 What should you do if you need to take a drug test? 
 
 Since there’s so much ambiguity around poppy seeds and drug screening, the safest thing is to avoid them if you know you’ll need to take a test. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency recommends this conservative approach to athletes before competition. And in a blog post, the National Institute on Drug Abuse for Teens also recommends abstaining. “They can be a tasty treat in favorite foods, but may be one to avoid before undergoing drug testing,” the post says. “Keep things simple: Try an onion bagel instead.” ||||| The interactive transcript could not be loaded. 
 
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 This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. ||||| A Baltimore County woman paid the price for her breakfast choice the day her daughter was born. 
 
 "I was in labor. I was sitting in the bed. I was having contractions. I was on a Pitocin drip, and the doctor came in and said, 'You've tested positive for opiates,'" mother Elizabeth Eden said. 
 
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 Eden never imagined she would test positive for opiates when she delivered baby Beatrice last spring. 
 
 She had heard in a school health class that consuming poppy seeds could cause a false positive, but that was certainly not on her mind when she gave birth at St. Joseph Medical Center on April 4. 
 
 "I said, 'Well, can you test me again? And I ate a poppy seed bagel this morning for breakfast,' and she said, 'No, you've been reported to the state,'" Eden said. 
 
 Poppy seeds come from the opium poppy plant. The drug is made from the sap of that plant, but the seeds contain trace amounts of opiates. 
 
 It doesn't take much to test positive for drugs after eating a poppy seed bagel. In fact, studies have shown that just a teaspoon of poppy seeds can cause your levels to be 1,200 nanograms per millimeter. 
 
 A positive test at St. Joseph Medical Center is 300 nanograms per millimeter. Dr. Judith Rossiter-Pratt, the chief of the department of OBGYN explains they use that as a means to catch as many true drug mis-users as possible. 
 
 "What you can see on this graph is that if you set the bar here, you would only identify true positives, but you would but what you would also miss quite a few individuals who did use drugs and were considered screened negative," Rossiter-Pratt said. 
 
 Because of her breakfast choice, Eden's daughter had to stay in the hospital on hold for five days and mom was assigned a state case worker for a home check-up. 
 
 "It was traumatizing," Eden said. 
 
 In a detailed letter to St. Joseph's, Eden detailed her research on poppy seeds and raised her concerns in hopes the hospital would raise its threshold for a positive test, or at least warn expectant mothers. 
 
 "We don't typically educate patients, and it's a really good point that people probably should know that if you use poppy seeds before you have a toxicology screen that it could result in a false positive test," Rossiter-Pratt said. 
 
 After realizing Eden's situation was a legitimate case of the poppy seed defense, her case worker closed the file, but it was an ordeal she hopes no other mom must go through. 
 
 AlertMe
– Elaine Benes could get behind this: A new mom is asking a Maryland hospital to revamp its approach to drug tests for expectant moms after her poppy seed bagel breakfast resulted in a false positive for opiates. "It was traumatizing," Elizabeth Eden tells WBAL of the saga that began when her doctor alerted her to the result of her drug test while she was in labor. Eden had previously heard that poppy seeds, which come from the opium poppy plant, could cause misleading results. "I said, 'Well, can you test me again? And I ate a poppy seed bagel this morning for breakfast,' and she said, 'No, you've been reported to the state.'" That meant Eden's daughter, born April 4, was held at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson for five days and a case worker had to visit her home. Increased awareness about false positives means hospitals generally look for opiate levels beyond 2,000 nanograms per millimeter. Eating one teaspoon of poppy seeds can result in levels of 1,200 nanogram per millimeter, but St. Joseph Medical Center considers a positive test to be above 300 nanograms per millimeter, per Time. The hospital's head of obstetrics says raising the limit would let actual drug users slip through undetected. But, citing a letter in which Eden advises the hospital educate expectant moms about the risks, the doctor adds, "it's a really good point that people probably should know that if you use poppy seeds before you have a toxicology screen that it could result in a false positive test." (This mom sued over her poppy seed debacle.)