Stephen Hacala Poppy Seed Safety Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 2615 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2615 To prohibit the sale of food that is, or contains, unsafe poppy seeds. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 2, 2025 Mr. Womack (for himself, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Hill of Arkansas, Mr. Westerman, and Mr. Crawford) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To prohibit the sale of food that is, or contains, unsafe poppy seeds. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Stephen Hacala Poppy Seed Safety Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. (a) Findings.--Congress finds as follows: (1) Stephen Hacala was a 24-year-old from Fayetteville, Arkansas, who was dearly loved by family and friends when he died from morphine intoxication caused by consumption of contaminated poppy seeds. (2) At least 19 people in the United States have been confirmed to have died from morphine overdoses from contaminated poppy seeds. (3) Women in the United States have tested positive for opiates in hospitals at childbirth due to poppy seed consumption in food, leading to unwarranted scrutiny from child welfare officials. (4) In 2023, the Department of Defense issued a warning to all servicemembers to avoid poppy seed consumption due to opiate contamination and the risk of positive drug tests. (5) Studies of pharmaceutical opiates have found that a dose of just 20 to 50 morphine milligram equivalents per day increases the risk of overdose and death among patients prescribed morphine for pain treatment. (6) Poppy products purchased in the United States have been found to have up to 2,788 milligrams of morphine per kilogram of se