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A dad was sacked for failing a drugs test - after eating his favourite £1.58 loaf of bread from Aldi .

Marcin Konieczny, 35, had only been in the factory job for two weeks when he was asked to give a sample.

The father-to-two, of Middlesbrough, Teesside, has never taken illegal substances, doesn’t smoke and only has one glass of wine a month.

But bosses at Cod Beck Blenders said his random drug test came back positive for small traces of opiates, a group of drugs known as "downers".

And Marcin was then fired, leaving him unable to provide for wife Camilla, 35, and their sons Nicholas, four, and nine-year-old Tiago.

"I’m absolutely devastated. I felt so powerless and discriminated against so badly.

(Image: Simon Hill/Triangle News) (Image: Simon Hill/Triangle News)

"I was so shocked because I have never smoked, never taken drugs and very rarely drink wine," the machine operator said.

But he did some research online and found opiates are derived from the resin of the opium poppy seedpod.

Marcin then realised he regularly eats Honey Soaked Seeded Bloomer - which contains poppy seeds - from the budget supermarket chain Aldi.

He took a sample of the £1.58 loaf to a private lab.

It came back with the same non-negative - which means small traces.

(Image: Simon Hill/Triangle News)

Since his research, Marcin, who moved to the UK from native Poland 14 years ago, said: "I started researching on the internet and found stories of other people who tested positively for drugs after eating seeded bread.

"My wife and I had just started changing our diet and eating more healthily. I had been eating the bread every day.

"The proof is in the lab results. It’s such a relief because the feeling of no-one believing you drives you mad.

"I hope nobody else is ever treated like this."

(Image: Simon Hill/Triangle News)

A spokesman Cod Becks Blenders - based in Thirsk, North Yorkshire - acknowledged the firm's blunder.

He said: "Like many businesses, we have in system a random testing policy to check for substance misuse.

"In this case, a temporary worker happened to be tested and returned a non-negative result.

"Our usual procedure in this situation is to suspend the person on full pay until the correct chain of custody drug test is complete, i.e we send off to lab for verification.

"In this particular case, the result came back positive but the lab said it was 'consistent with a dietary source, not medication or anything untoward'.

"After the second test, we communicated the results to the agency who hired him.

(Image: Simon Hill/Triangle News)

(Image: Simon Hill/Triangle News)

"In the circumstances we would have no objection in principle to this temporary worker returning here."

Heroin is made from opium.

The case echoes the moment Angela Rippon was tested positive for opiates on Rip Off Britain: Food after eating a loaf of bread.

The presenter was also unaware the poppy seeds contained opiates as she delivered a segment on drugs test at workplaces.

She said: "In more than 50 years of broadcasting I've found myself in a number of extraordinary situations.

(Image: BBC)

"But I must say I never thought I'd find myself taking a drugs test, let alone have it come back positive."

In August 2017, a 58-year-old pipe fitter from Liverpool blamed a poppy-seeded bun after drugs were found in his urine.

The father-of-two maintained his innocence throughout.

A private £120 hair follicle test eventually confirmed that he was telling the truth.

Aldi has been contacted for comment.