This grocery store item is beloved in the US. But it’s banned in South Korea

CNN —

One of America’s most popular exports is illegal in South Korea – Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel seasoning mix.

The blend, which is popular with influencers and regularly spotted in recipes on TikTok, contains salt, minced garlic, sesame seeds and poppy seeds – the last of which is banned in South Korea.

Travelers arriving at Seoul’s Incheon Airport (ICN) recently have reported seeing signs specifically mentioning the Everything But the Bagel seasoning mix not being permitted.

One poster on X, formerly known as Twitter, shared a poster from the airport. The sign had 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.”

“Seed products with narcotic substances have always been banned from being brought into Korea. Recently, the customs offices have been strengthening crackdown on narcotic related items,” an airport representative told CNN.

The poppy plant is a vital source for the same compounds which are found in painkillers like codeine and morphine as well as street drugs like heroin, although the seeds themselves don’t contain any opiates.

Denmark's food agency has issued a recall for three flavors of hot chicken instant ramen made by South Korea's Samyang, urging consumers to abandon the product.

Related article Instant ramen ‘fire noodles’ are too spicy for this country

Recently, a blogger on Korean website Naver posted about their experience bringing Trader Joe’s products back from the US to South Korea.

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