Diet Pill Supplement Scam: Two-Thirds of Hoodia Gordonii Pills in US Are Counter

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Natural Health Report

Diet Pill Supplement Scam: Two-Thirds of Hoodia Gordonii Pills Sold in

the United States Are Counterfeit

By Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

 

[Must credit NaturalHealthReport.com on this report]

 

 

As part of an ongoing investigation into Hoodia Gordonii supplements

sold around the world, Truth Publishing has now learned that eleven

out of seventeen brand-name hoodia supplements have failed a

laboratory analysis of authenticity. The laboratory tests, conducted

by Alkemist Pharmaceuticals in Costa Mesa, CA, show that approximately

two-thirds of the tested supplements contain no identifiable hoodia

gordonii according to two plant authentication tests: High-Performance

Thin-Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) and High-Performance Liquid

Chromatography (HPLC). Many samples were furthermore subjected to

microscopy with digital photo documentation.

 

For each specimen, an unopened, sealed plastic bottle was delivered to

Alkemist Pharmaceuticals. The batch number and expiration date, if

printed on the bottle, was photo-documented. Each bottle was opened,

and the chromatography and microscopic tests were then conducted on

the supplements found inside. All test results were provided to Truth

Publishing by Alkemist Pharmaceuticals and are published here with

permission.

 

 

Six Hoodia Products Pass the Test

Out of the Hoodia Gordonii products tested, only six passed the tests.

These products, according to the lab test results, contain 100%

genuine hoodia gordonii:

 

* Desert Burn

* Hoodoba Pure

* Dr. Wheeler's Afrigetics

* King Hoodia

* Hoodia Max

* Ethno Africa

 

The other eleven hoodia products failed the authentication tests. For

reasons that will be explained below, the brand names of those failing

supplements are not being listed here, but Truth Publishing can

confirm that those products are popular, brand-name products found on

the internet and on health food store shelves everywhere.

 

Failure of this test does NOT necessarily indicate that the

manufacturer is aware of the non-authentic nature of their hoodia

gordonii raw materials (raw powder). Truth Publishing is aware of many

cases where hoodia brokers are using dishonest tactics to fool U.S.

manufacturers into buying bogus hoodia even as they believe they are

purchasing the real thing. These tactics include:

 

1. Counterfeiting lab results. Truth Publishing has learned that at

least one laboratory exists in the United States that will generate an

authentic-looking certificate of analysis on practically any sample as

long as the " testing " is paid for.

2. Bait-and-switch tactics. Many brokers will attain a genuine

sample of hoodia gordonii, send that sample for testing, acquire a

certificate of authenticity, and then fill their bulk orders with

something entirely different.

3. Cutting the real product with fillers. Many dishonest hoodia

gordonii brokers or wholesalers will buy genuine hoodia, then cut it

with sawdust, leaves or the ground-up parts of various plants (often

succulents). The resulting product may only have 10% of the original

potency of genuine hoodia, yet it is sold as 100% South African hoodia

gordonii powder to bulk buyers in the United States.

 

As a result -- and this is critically important to understand -- many

U.S. supplement companies may be unknowingly selling counterfeit

hoodia gordonii supplements while believing they are 100% genuine.

 

At the same time, other supplement companies may, in fact, not really

care what they're selling as long as customers keep buying it in the

hopes of losing weight. In fact, there are really two camps of

counterfeit hoodia sellers in the United States: 1) those who know

they're selling fake hoodia but don't care, and 2) those who don't

want to know whether their hoodia is fake or genuine, so they don't

ask the tough questions of their suppliers.

 

Truth Publishing believes the counterfeit hoodia gordonii supplement

market is made of both types of companies: there are several high-end

companies whose hoodia products tested as unconfirmed even though the

companies have a strong track record of quality control and honesty.

On the other hand, there are definitely fly-by-night companies (one of

which was already exposed in a previous Truth Publishing article on

hoodia supplements) that will blatantly sell practically anything to

anybody, as long as they don't get caught. It's a code of behavior

similar to many pharmaceutical companies, but with weight loss pills

instead of medications.

 

It is important to note that even counterfeit hoodia supplements have

never been known to actually kill people (as many prescription drugs

most certainly do). Yet that is no excuse for the dishonest practices

by those hoodia supplements companies who knowingly sell counterfeit

products to consumers.

 

What's in the hoodia pills if not hoodia?

One obvious question from these results is: if it's not hoodia in

these supplements, then what's in there? From a source that wishes to

remain anonymous, Truth Publishing has learned that the most common

" adulteration " found in non-genuine hoodia supplements is a succulent

with a similar physical appearance as hoodia, but without the same

chemical composition. In other words, it looks the same, but doesn't

have the same active ingredients as genuine hoodia gordonii.

 

This reveals and interesting point. When hoodia gordonii is harvested

in the wild in South Africa, the economic incentive to find more

hoodia gordonii results in people digging up practically any succulent

that resembles hoodia in physical appearance. Ultimately, they get

paid the same whether it's hoodia or not, because as long as there are

buyers willing to shell out US$225 / kg for adulterated or counterfeit

hoodia powder, there will always be plenty of individuals or

organizations in South Africa who are willing to provide it. After

all, harvesting wild cactus for $225 / kg is a lucrative business in

South Africa (or any country, for that matter).

 

At the same time, due to the massive harvesting effort of wild hoodia

gordonii (the raping of the land, actually, for this lucrative herb),

South Africa, Botswana and Namibia have classified hoodia gordonii as

an endangered species. Its harvesting and exporting is now controlled

and must be authorized by the government.

 

The real thing: a CITES certificate

In South Africa, this authorization is provided by a CITES

certificate. C.I.T.E.S. stands for Convention on International Trade

in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Hoodia gordonii was

added to the CITES schedule during a 2004 meeting in Bangkok. The

official CITES listing for hoodia now reads:

 

Botswana , Namibia , and South Africa submitted a proposal to the 14th

Conference of the Parties of CITES to list all species of Hoodia on

Appendix II. This proposal was accepted in January 2005 and it is now

prohibited to trade in any parts and derivatives of any Hoodia species

without a permit. A permit can only be obtained from the relevant

permitting authorities of each country and can only be issued for

trade in cultivated plants or wild plants where the trade can be shown

not to have a detrimental effect on wild populations (a CITES

non-detriment finding). The listing of Hoodia makes provision for

exemption from CITES permits where traders participate in controlled

harvesting and production systems in collaboration with the CITES

Management Authorities of Botswana/Namibia/South Africa, but no such

agreements are yet in place. Importing countries must ensure that a

valid CITES export permit has been issued by the country of origin for

any trade.

 

Because all genuine hoodia gordonii exported from South Africa must

have a CITES certificate, the display of such a certificate by hoodia

resellers is one of the ways consumers can confirm the authenticity of

the product. See a CITES certificate on the DesertBurn.com website.

Desert Burn also displays the sellers license and growers license,

providing the most documentation of all hoodia resellers in the United

States.

 

Not surprisingly, some websites are counterfeiting the CITES

certificates with help from Photoshop. By photo-editing the

certificate found on DesertBurn.com or other websites, they can create

their own genuine-looking CITES certificate, even though their hoodia

remains counterfeit. A real CITES certificate will clearly show the

name of the importer and exporter for the hoodia. A fake CITES

certificate will usually have these whited out.

 

This is why laboratory testing of the hoodia sample is the only way to

be 100% certain of its authenticity. And, again, only six products

passed the laboratory testing conducted by Alkemist Pharmaceuticals:

 

* Desert Burn

* Hoodoba Pure

* Dr. Wheeler's Afrigetics

* King Hoodia

* Hoodia Max

* Ethno Africa

 

If your hoodia diet pills aren't working...

The high prevalence of counterfeit hoodia supplements sold in western

countries may help explain why some hoodia users complain the herb

isn't working for them. The reason is simple, it seems: they're not

taking genuine hoodia gordonii.

 

The solution is to switch to a brand of hoodia that has been 100%

authenticated as genuine, such as Desert Burn, Hoodoba, King Hoodia or

Hoodia Max.

 

The other reason your old hoodia supplement may not work is because of

the digestibility factor: many people have such poor digestion that

they never absorb all the active ingredients in genuine hoodia powder.

So they may be taking genuine hoodia but still not getting the effect

they were expecting. The solution to this? Hoodia gordonii tincture.

 

Hoodia gordonii tincture

Two companies currently sell hoodia gordonii tincture (hoodia herb

soaked in alcohol to extract the herb's active ingredients): Hoodoba

(Hoodoba Hi-Potency Elixir) and Jenny Lee Naturals (Hoodia Tincture).

The hoodia tincture sold by Jenny Lee Naturals is actually sourced

from Hoodoba, so it's all the same genuine powder as authenticated by

Alkemist Pharmaceuticals. The only difference between these two

products is that Hoodoba offers a more potent tincture with a higher

price. The Jenny Lee Naturals hoodia tincture is more affordable per 2

oz. bottle, but not as potent.

 

The potency of these two hoodia tincture products is easily assessed

by a simple taste test (the tongue is one of the most precise chemical

detection technologies on the planet). Neither tinctures have been

subjected to laboratory testing to determine actually potency in terms

of parts per million of active ingredients.

 

For some people, tinctures work better than pills due to the

digestibility factor. This benefit is especially prevalent in people

over the age of 60 who typically suffer from low production of HCL

stomach acid, but it can vary greatly from one individual to the next.

 

The bottom line on hoodia gordonii supplements

The good news on hoodia is that there are known sources for acquiring

the real thing, and there are packaged supplements available right now

that contain 100% genuine hoodia. The bad news is that if consumers

aren't educated about what's genuine, perhaps two-thirds of them are

buying products with no verifiable hoodia gordonii content.

 

And that's bad for the entire supplements industry, because it creates

a negative experience for those customers. They might take their

counterfeit pills for a few weeks, then realize their appetite is

exactly the same as before. So they blame the hoodia pills and declare

that hoodia doesn't work. But the reality, of course, is that they

weren't taking hoodia. They've been duped, just like many of the

supplement manufacturers who think they're selling genuine hoodia but

who are actually shipping adulterated supplements that may contain no

hoodia gordonii whatsoever.

 

Finally, it is important to realize that even when taking genuine

hoodia gordonii supplements, no pill will cause you to lose weight,

all by itself, unless you combine it with sensible changes in your

lifestyle that include moderate exercise and avoidance of certain food

ingredients such high glycemic ingredients (sugars, white flour, etc.)

and artificial fats (hydrogenated oils and trans fats).

 

If you are depending on hoodia alone to make you lose weight, without

engaging in some form of exercise, then it probably doesn't matter

whether you're taking the real thing or not: you won't lose body fat

either way. In contrast, if you do take up a sensible exercise

program, and you combine it with an effective appetite suppressant

such as hoodia gordonii, your results are likely to be accelerated.

 

Healthy weight loss should never exceed two pounds of body fat per

week. Any weight loss beyond that is likely to include loss of lean

body mass (muscle) and skeletal mass (bone density). Most

nutritionists recommend sustained weight loss of no more than 1-2

pounds of body fat per week.

 

Full hydration (drinking lots of water) during any weight loss effort

is very important. Don't fall for the trap of trying to lose weight

through dehydration and starvation, aided by an appetite suppressant

herb. This can be medically dangerous. Drinking lots of water may make

you feel bloated, but remember: water has no calories. Drink all you

need. It won't add an ounce of fat, ever.

 

As always, be sure to work with a qualified health practitioner before

attempting any weight loss program, exercise program, or dietary

supplement (including hoodia). If you choose to purchase and consume

hoodia supplements, do NOT take the word of hoodia websites that

display lab analysis documents. Such documents may be counterfeit or

crafted as part of a bait-and-switch tactic. Only purchase the

supplements that have been verified here as containing 100% genuine

hoodia gordonii.

 

Again, that list of authenticated, genuine hoodia gordonii is:

 

* Desert Burn

* Hoodoba Pure

* Dr. Wheeler's Afrigetics

* King Hoodia

* Hoodia Max

* Ethno Africa

 

Remember, Truth Publishing accepts no advertising from these companies

and earns no affiliate fees, commissions of kickbacks from these

products. We are a consumer advocacy group dedicated to public

education about health, nutrition and medicine safety.

 

For more articles about hoodia gordoni, visit the hoodia gordonii page

at Newstarget.com

 

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