Trader Joe's "Everything but the Bagel" seasoning, a blend of bagel toppings, has become a popular item in the U.S. But people are finding out that bringing it into South Korea can get you in big trouble with the law.
The seasoning is on South Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's list of "hazardous food purchased overseas" because it contains poppy seeds, classified by South Korean law as a narcotic. Link to a Washington Post article by Kelsey Ables and Julie Yoon is here.
South Korean law classifies poppy seeds — an ingredient in the seasoning — as a narcotic, meaning possession is punishable by up to five years in prison or a fine of about $36,000. While punishment is rare, it seems those coming to the country will have to bring anything but Everything but the Bagel.
Kang Joo-eun, 31, read about the ban on social media the night before she returned to South Korea from her honeymoon in New York. She was planning to bring the seasoning but she eventually decided against it.
To her surprise, after she landed in South Korea, Kang was pulled aside for inspection. "Agents walked around showing people a picture of Everything but the Bagel seasoning and took away the jars," she said. It turned out she had forgotten to discard nuts that were coated with the same seasoning.
Kang was asked to fill out a customs form declaring that she brought a narcotic item into the country. "It was all around an unpleasant experience," she said.
Officials at Seoul's Incheon International Airport confirmed that they have been confiscating the product and said "most travelers have been cooperative."
While experts say it is not possible to eat enough poppy seeds to have a narcotic effect, some unwashed poppy seeds of certain geographic origin may have measurable amounts of opioids on them.
