Who doesn’t love a decadent slice of cake?! Well, before you consume that yummy treat placed right in front of you, make sure that it doesn’t contain poppy seeds, or you may get arrested!
It has been brought to the public’s attention that cakes, or other baked goods, containing poppy seeds are illegal to consume or be distributed in Malaysia. Originating from the opium poppy, poppy seeds come from a drug based plant. For that reason, poppy seeds are sometimes added to cakes to boost up sales.
City Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department chief SAC Wan Abdullah Ishak said, “We found that ‘Lemon poppy seed cakes’ were sold openly for RM13 a piece.”
Even the slightest bit of drug consumption (5gm of ganja from the poppy plant) can amount to a fine of RM20,000 or 5 years in jail.
For many, many years now, poppy seeds have been an essential ingredient in a plethora of cake and cookie recipes. It hasn’t been a problem, so why is it an issue now? :/
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