One of America’s most popular exports is illegal in South Korea – Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel seasoning.
The mixture, which is popular with influencers and regularly found in recipes on TikTok, contains salt, minced garlic, sesame seeds and poppy seeds – the latter of which is banned in South Korea.
Travelers arriving at Seoul’s Incheon Airport (ICN) have recently reported seeing signs specifically mentioning the “Anything But Bagel” spice mix is not allowed.
A poster on X, formerly known as Twitter, shared a poster from the airport. The sign had a picture of the spice mix and read in Korean, “We would like to inform you that the following products containing poppy seeds are not allowed to be brought into the country as ‘Papaver Somniferum L’, a member of the poppy family defined as narcotic substance has been detected under South Korea’s Narcotic Drug Control Act.”
“Seed products with narcotic substances have always been banned from entering Korea. Recently, customs offices have stepped up their crackdown on narcotics-related items,” an airport representative told CNN.
The poppy plant is a vital source of the same compounds found in pain relievers such as codeine and morphine, as well as street drugs such as heroin, although the seeds themselves do not contain any opiates.
Recently, a blogger on the Korean website Naver posted about their experience bringing Trader Joe’s products from the US to South Korea.
In a post made on July 14, the blogger reported that she brought 20 bottles of spices, which she learned about on the Internet. However, they emerged from the baggage conveyor belt with a yellow lock on them and she had to speak to airport officials to explain why she had brought the banned items into the country.
“There seems to be some confusion,” she wrote, adding that other people from her flight also had their products confiscated.
After all, “I gave up the spice bottles and then they let me go,” she concluded.
And South Korea isn’t the only country with restrictions on poppy seeds.
In Singapore, the seeds are officially classified as “prohibited goods” by the Central Narcotics Bureau, but people who want to bring them into the country – either in seed form or in edible products – can apply for an exemption through the Health Sciences Authority. of the country. .
Last year, the Pentagon issued a warning to members of the military that consuming poppy seeds could cause a drug test to come back positive.
“Out of an abundance of caution, I find that the protection of service members and the integrity of the drug testing program requires a warning to avoid poppy seeds,” the memo read.
Experts say it would be impossible to eat enough poppy seeds to grow.
“Poppy seeds don’t have nearly enough opiates to get you high,” according to an article published by the University of Florida College of Medicine. “But because drug tests are extremely sensitive, consuming certain poppy seed food products can lead to positive urine drug test results for opiates – especially morphine, codeine, or both.”
Countries in East Asia often have very strict anti-drug laws and long prison sentences for offenders. Singapore, for example, still uses the death penalty for drug trafficking offences, including marijuana.
Last year Hong Kong declared cannabidoil (CBD) a “dangerous drug” on par with heroin and fentanyl. CBD is a chemical found in hemp and marijuana plants. It’s non-psychoactive, meaning it won’t get you high; instead, CBD is often marketed for everything from helping to relieve pain and inflammation to reducing stress and anxiety.
Trader Joe’s is a grocery store chain founded in California with more than 500 locations across the United States.
In a 2023 survey, Trader Joe’s customers ranked everything but Bagel Seasoning as one of their favorite products.
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