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A man claims he was suspended from work for failing a drug test after eating POPPY SEEDS.

The father-of-two, who does not want to be named, said he was suspended for 11 weeks from his job as a pipe fitter, after a random drug test showed morphine - derived from opium, in his system.

He claims that the positive reading, in March, was the result of eating Morrison’s poppy seeded buns and poppy seeded bread, both of which he had eaten the day before the test.

After receiving the shock results and to prove his innocence, he privately paid £120 for a hair follicle test, which came back negative and he got a letter from his GP, which proved he had never been on any prescribed medication, such as morphine or painkillers - which contain opiates.

(Image: Handout)

However it took almost three months for him to be reinstated at work and he is still unable to work for the contractor who carried out the drug test - who he claims still does not believe him.

The 58-year-old told the ECHO: “I am a married dad and have two grown up children, I have never taken drugs.

“I was very shocked and wanted to get to the bottom of what it was.

“I thought to myself ‘I have something in my body that I have no idea where it has come from’ - it was very worrying.”

(Image: Handout)

The Liverpool dad said he was left “wracking his brain” as to what could have given him a positive reading for opiates and began to do some research.

He said: “People were saying it could be painkillers, but I had never had them and even if I didn’t remember taking the painkillers I would have remembered the pain I was in to have needed them.

“I thought about the possibility of someone having spiked me, but I hadn’t been anywhere for that to happen.

“Also to be spiked with heroin is unlikely, plus if I had been spiked with it, would I really have been able to get up at 5am the next day for work and feel fine?”

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His online research led him to come across TV presenter Angela Rippon, who tested positive for opiates, after eating poppy seeds in a loaf of bread for an experiment for Rip Off Britain: Food series.

The test picked up the presence of morphine, derived from opium, after she ate a loaf of poppy seed bread and a poppy seed bagel over the course of three days.

The experiment came about after a contributor to the programme said he had been fired from his job at a power station, after a routine drug test showed opiates in his system.

The Liverpool pipe fitter added: “I knew straight away that it had to be the poppy seeds I had eaten and I actually thought ‘great’ that explains it.

“I’d had three poppy seeded bread rolls and poppy seeded bread the day and night before the test.”

However, he claims the company contractor would not send off his urine sample to be tested for poppy seeds which meant the positive drug result remains on his work record.

He said: “I had nothing to hide at all and desperately wanted them to do this test.

“If I had done something wrong I wouldn’t have wanted that or gone for a hair follicle test myself, but I wanted to know for myself where this positive reading had come from so I could avoid whatever it was.

“I knew I was in the right yet I was being forced to convince people I had worked with for years that I wasn’t a liar or a druggy.

“This was my reputation and integrity at the end of the day as well as the fact my job was at stake.”

The construction site worker says he has worked in the construction business for 42 years and always had a “clean bill of everything - including punctuality and my sickness record”.

And it was only after his company carried out their own investigations, by looking at his records and taking character references, that they were confident enough to allow him to return.

He now thinks there should be warning labels on food that contain poppy seeds and workers should be given the opportunity to be tested for poppy seeds in the event of a ‘false positive’ test.

He added: “It was good of my company to back me and believe in me.

“But this could have happened to a young man with a young family who could have been fired for something completely innocent.

“He would have then been unemployed with a failed drug test on his record.

“And research shows this has happened to people, so how many times does it have to happen for it to be taken seriously?

“We are constantly told to live a healthy lifestyle but it was my healthy diet that almost lost me my job.”

The man said he has not eaten poppy seeds since the drug test and is continuing to try to clear his record.

A Morrisons spokesman said: "Checks are in place to ensure poppy seeds are safe for customers who should have no cause for concern."