I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6512 

To prohibit the sale of food that is, or contains, unsafe poppy seeds. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 29, 2023 

Mr. WOMACK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To prohibit the sale of food that is, or contains, unsafe 

poppy seeds. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stephen Hacala Poppy 

5 Seed Safety Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) Stephen Hacala was a 24-year-old from 

9 Fayetteville, Arkansas, who was dearly loved by fam10 ily and friends when he died from morphine intoxicaVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Dec 05, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6512.IH H6512

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1 tion caused by consumption of contaminated poppy 

2 seeds. 

3 (2) At least 19 people in the United States have 

4 been confirmed to have died from morphine 

5 overdoses from contaminated poppy seeds. 

6 (3) Women in the United States have tested 

7 positive for opiates in hospitals at childbirth due to 

8 poppy seed consumption in food, leading to unwar9 ranted scrutiny from child welfare officials. 

10 (4) In 2023, the Department of Defense issued 

11 a warning to all servicemembers to avoid poppy seed 

12 consumption due to opiate contamination and the 

13 risk of positive drug tests. 

14 (5) Studies of pharmaceutical opiates have 

15 found that a dose of just 20 to 50 morphine milli16 gram equivalents per day increases the risk of over17 dose and death among patients prescribed morphine 

18 for pain treatment. 

19 (6) Poppy products purchased in the United 

20 States have been found to have up to 2,788 milli21 grams of morphine per kilogram of seeds after ex22 traction. 

23 (7) Cleaning processes are available that have 

24 proved effective at reducing morphine contamination 


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1 from 50 to 220 milligrams per kilogram down to 4 

2 milligrams per kilogram or less. 

3 (8) While poppy seeds are excluded from the 

4 definition of ‘‘opium poppy’’ and ‘‘poppy straw’’ 

5 under the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 

6 et seq.), that definition does not exclude unwashed 

7 poppy seeds that have been contaminated with 

8 opium alkaloids from the latex of the plant. The 

9 opium alkaloids (inclusive of morphine, codeine, and 

10 thebaine), if present as contaminants on poppy seed 

11 material, are also not exempted from control under 

12 that Act. 

13 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to pro14 hibit the distribution and sale of contaminated poppy 

15 seeds in order to prevent harm, addiction, and further 

16 deaths from morphine-contaminated poppy seeds. 

17 SEC. 3. UNSAFE POPPY SEEDS AS ADULTERANTS IN FOOD. 

18 (a) PROHIBITION.—Section 301 of the Federal Food, 

19 Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 331) is amended by 

20 adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(jjj) Selling, or offering to sell, directly to consumers 

22 a food that is or contains poppy seeds, including con23 centrates, metabolites, constituents, or extracts of poppy 

24 seeds, that contain levels of morphine, codeine, or other 


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1 alkaloid compounds that may render the food injurious to 

2 health.’’. 

3 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Health and 

4 Human Services shall— 

5 (1) not later than 1 year after the date of en6 actment of this Act, issue a proposed rule estab7 lishing a maximum level for contamination under 

8 section 301(jjj) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cos9 metic Act (as added by subsection (a)) by morphine, 

10 codeine, and any other alkaloid compound which the 

11 Secretary may designate; and 

12 (2) not later than 2 years after the date of en13 actment of this Act, finalize such rule. 

14 SEC. 4. POPPY SEEDS AS AN ADULTERANT. 

15 Nothing in this Act and the amendment made by this 

16 Act shall be construed as preventing the Secretary of 

17 Health and Human Services from— 

18 (1) determining that poppy seeds contaminated 

19 with morphine, codeine, or another alkaloid com20 pound that may render food injurious to health are 

21 adulterated under section 402 of the Federal Food, 

22 Drug, and Cosmetic Act (42 U.S.C. 342), in viola23 tion of section 423 of such Act (21 U.S.C. 350l), or 

24 in violation of any other provision of such Act; or 


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1 (2) exempting such contaminated seeds from 

2 regulation under the Controlled Substances Act (21 

3 U.S.C. 801 et seq.). 

Æ 


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