This grocery store item is beloved in the US. But it’s banned in South Korea

By Lilit Marcus, CNN

(CNN) — One of America’s most popular exports is illegal in South Korea – Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel seasoning mix.

The blend, which is popular with influencers and regularly spotted in recipes on TikTok, contains salt, minced garlic, sesame seeds and poppy seeds – the last of which is banned in South Korea.

Travelers arriving at Seoul’s Incheon Airport (ICN) recently have reported seeing signs specifically mentioning the Everything But the Bagel seasoning mix not being permitted.

One poster on X, formerly known as Twitter, shared a poster from the airport. The sign had a picture of the seasoning mix and read in Korean, “We would like to inform you that the following products containing poppy seeds are restricted from being brought into the country as ‘Papaver Somniferum L,’ an ingredient of the poppy family designated as narcotic substance under South Korea’s narcotic drugs control law has been detected.”

“Seed products with narcotic substances have always been banned from being brought into Korea. Recently, the customs offices have been strengthening crackdown on narcotic related items,” an airport representative told CNN.

The poppy plant is a vital source for the same compounds which are found in painkillers like codeine and morphine as well as street drugs like heroin, although the seeds themselves don’t contain any opiates.

Recently, a blogger on Korean website Naver posted about their experience bringing Trader Joe’s products back from the US to South Korea.

In a post made on July 14, the blogger reported that she brought back 20 bottles of the seasoning, which she learned about online. However, they came out of the luggage conveyer belt with a yellow lock on them, and she had to speak with airport officials to explain why she had brought the forbidden items into the country.

“There seems to be some confusion,” she wrote, adding that other people from her flight also had their products confiscated.

Ultimately, “I gave up the seasoning bottles and then I was let go,” she concluded.

And South Korea is not 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 – whether in seed form or in food products – can apply for an exemption through the country’s Health Sciences Authority.

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 protecting service members and the integrity of the drug testing program requires a warning to avoid poppy seeds,” read the memo.

Experts say it would be all but impossible to eat enough poppy seeds to get high.

“Poppy seeds don’t have nearly enough opiates to intoxicate you,” according to an article published by the University of Florida’s College of Medicine. “But because drug tests are exquisitely sensitive, consuming certain poppy seed food products can lead to positive urine drug test results for opiates – specifically for morphine, codeine or both.”

Countries in East Asia often have very strict anti-drug rules and long jail sentences for offenders. Singapore, for example, still uses the death penalty for drug trafficking offenses, including for marijuana.

Last year Hong Kong declared cannabidoil (CBD) a “dangerous drug” on the same level as 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 California-founded grocery store chain with more than 500 locations across the United States.

In a 2023 poll, customers of Trader Joe’s listed Everything But the Bagel seasoning as one of their favorite products.

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CNN’s Yoonjung Seo contributed reporting.