DRUG SQUAD SWOOPS ON POPPY SEED BISCUITS

SINGAPORE - Biscuit and bagel lovers beware -- Singapore's drug squad could
have its eye on you.

Poppy seeds are the offending ingredient because some varieties contain
traces of morphine.

British retailer Marks & Spencer has fallen foul of the city state's tough
stance on drugs by stocking shelves with poppyseed biscuits that are now
the subject of an investigation by the Central Narcotics Bureau.

"Because the Misuse of Drugs Act states that morphine is a controlled drug,
you're not supposed to have morphine in any amount," a spokeswoman for the
drug squad told Reuters.

It was too early to say whether any criminal charges would be laid as that
would depend on the police and the results of lab tests, she said.

Singapore typically hangs people convicted of trafficking in large amounts
of heroin, cannabis and other illegal drugs.

Last month, a local company was fined S$60,000 ($34,680) for importing
poppy seed cake mix containing traces of morphine, which comes from the
same chemical family as opium and heroin.

Sheriff Salahudeen, a Marks & Spencer food buyer quoted by a local tabloid,
referred media queries to a spokeswoman who could not be reached for comment.

"Even though we read about the poppy seed mix case, it didn't occur to us
that there was an issue because we've been carrying the product for more
than five years," Salahudeen told the New Paper. "We wouldn't want to sell
something against the law."

Marks & Spencer pulled boxes of the biscuits from its half dozen outlets in
Singapore on Wednesday, the paper said.

"Eating food with poppy seed containing morphine may cause someone's urine
specimen to test positive," it added.

That scenario was played out in the U.S. comedy series "Seinfeld" when the
character Elaine failed a drug test for a new job because of her intake of
poppy seed bagels.

In Singapore, importers of poppy seeds or products containing them are
supposed to send a sample to the Health Sciences Authority to verify that
they do not contain morphine.

"As far as poppy seeds are concerned, there are different variants
depending on where you buy it from. In standard bakery products, there's no
problem with it," a dietician at a large hospital told Reuters.