A noodle vendor in the Shaanxi province of China has been detained after police discovered that he'd been lacing his noodles with powdered poppy, a move that kept his customers coming back for more.

Police had stopped a vehicle being driven by a 26-year-old man who tested positive for opium. The man was taken into custody for 15 days and was finally released when his family members, who had also tested positive for opium, explained they'd all come from the same noodle vendor.

Via CNN:

The owner said that he bought 4 catty (2kg) of the substance for 600 yuan ($98) in August. He said he added it to his food to make it taste better and to improve his business, the Huashangbao paper reported.

The likelihood of becoming addicted to opium through the powdered poppy over a steaming bowl of noodles is not high, Chinese media reported. The noodle vendor was detained for 10 days for the drug manipulation.

[Image via AP]