Victorian health officials are warning people of the risks of brewing their own poppy seed tea after 19 people presented to hospital emergency departments due to toxic contamination.
The Victorian health department said one person had a heart attack, and two people are in intensive care after consuming home-brewed poppy tea.
Other people have experienced side effects such as tachycardia, hypertension, seizures and acute kidney injury.
The department said current evidence suggested there may be a contaminant in readily available, supermarket poppy seeds that is causing the reaction.
Poppy seed tea is made by soaking large quantities of the seeds to remove an opioid alkaloid called thebaine, but health officials suspect some poppy seeds currently available have a higher-than-normal concentration of the chemical.
Patients who have presented to hospital say they used between 120 grams and one kilogram of seeds to brew their tea.
Toxic effects have not been reported from the consumption of smaller quantities of the seeds.
Poppy seed tea drinkers have been warned that an unusual brown colour and bitter taste in brewed poppy seed tea could indicate that it is toxic.
