How this bagel seasoning could get you into trouble (in South Korea)

I recently shared the arrival of Everything bagel seasoning on our shores. If, like me, you’ve fallen in love with the mixture of salt, dried garlic, dried onion, sesame and poppy seeds I have important news .

The Washington Post reported this week that importing popular gourmet brand, Trader Joe’s Everything but the Bagel seasoning could leave you a lawbreaker in the southeast Asian state.

The spice mix is on their banned list and has been since 2022. The cause of the problem are the poppy seeds, which are classified under South Korean law as a narcotic. This puts the American favourite food firmly on South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s list of ‘hazardous food purchased overseas’.

One poster on X/ Twitter, shared a warning sign displayed at the airport. The sign showed 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.