The TV presenter was taking part in an experiment with poppy seed bread.

Of all the things that could make you fail a drugs test, chances are that you would never think of poppy seed bread.

Sure, the poppy seeds can get annoying if they’re stuck in your teeth, but surely that’s the only after-effect? Apparently not – according to Angela Rippon.

The 72-year-old ate a loaf of bread with poppy seeds and a poppy seed bagel over the course of three days for the fourth series of Rip Off Britain: Food. Rippon then tested positive for opiates – her results picked up the presence of morphine, which is derived from opium.

(Anthony Devlin/PA)

The poppy seed experiment came after a contributor to the programme told how he was fired from his job at a power station after a routine drug test showed opiates in his system. Dumbfounded at first, he realised that the answer must be the poppy seed bread he’d eaten for his breakfast.

Rippon said: “In more than 50 years of broadcasting I’ve found myself in a number of extraordinary situations. But I must say I never thought I’d find myself taking a drugs test, let alone have it come back positive.”

And safe to say viewers were just as surprised as she was.

Day Time TV is weird. Watching Angela Rippon OD on poppy seed bread to see if she would test positive in a drugs test. — TinkyWinky's Handbag (@LammyPammy) May 29, 2017

Shocked 😳 Watching 'Rip off Britain' & an Engineer lost his job after he failed a random drugs test, turns out it was the bread he'd eaten! — PC Sarah WHITEHEAD (@PC717Sazzles) May 29, 2017

The whole thing is just a bit comical.

Off her face on loaf again. I knew it! This decade just gets weirder. https://t.co/GTMQo1FhrC — brian McG 🔴⚪🇪🇺 (@br1mcg) May 29, 2017

Who knew Rip off Britain could be so good. Angela Ripon off her face on poppy seed bread. — Steve McKay (@SirStephenMcKay) May 29, 2017

Wasn't this one of Alan Partridge's rejected programme pitches? https://t.co/UwPkMSe5GI — Bruce Douglas (@bruceecurb) May 29, 2017

No one can quite handle the idea of Rippon failing a drugs test.

Workplace drugs tests don't work, fail you for poppy seeded bread. Must say "Angela Rippon fails test for opiates" is a dream headline. — Brynley Heaven (@BrynleyHeaven) May 29, 2017

The highlight of my morning thus far has been watching Angela Rippon get off her nut on a Warburtons batch loaf. — Mitzi Del Bra (@call_me_mitzi) May 29, 2017

Consulting Queen Mary University toxicology expert, Professor Atholl Johnston, told Rippon: “The amount of morphine in a poppy seed will vary quite considerably depending on when and where it was harvested.

“In fact when tests have been done there’s about a six-hundred fold variation in the amount of morphine in poppy seeds.”

[Read more: 9 things you need to know about Angela Rippon]

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