5 Facts- The Hazards of Buying Counterfeit Hoodia Gordonii

Question # 1: Does the vendor that you are buying from allow anonymous, random, and ongoing product testing of their Hoodia by an independent lab? Also, and just as crucial, are they only sending in a batch sample with a lot number for testing?

Here’s why.

There are dishonest vendors who will display the lot numbers tested on their website from a lab considered to be very reputable. But, the only way to know that this constitutes irrefutable proof of their hoodia product’s strength is if the company permits ongoing, anonymous, and random testing of the actual product that is sold to the consumer. This should be completely verifiable, and also the testing should be done where the vendor doesn’t know the exact testing place, where the products are bought from nor when the product was purchased. The results from such testing should be displayed right on the testing laboratorie’s websites.

Question #2 What about Purity? Does the company provide an easy way to check and verify that the hoodia products that they sell are made stricly from the pure South African Hoodia? The products should have no additives or fillers diluting the potency.

There is a way. To determine purity, look under the Supplement Facts section of the label. Does it explicitly declare the absence of additives by displaying the word “None” in the “Other Ingredients” block? If it says anything other than “None,” it isn’t pure Hoodia gordonii!

Sometimes a manufacturer will list the fillers and additives as “Other Ingredients”. This is known as the “O.I.” trick. If the manufacturer lists the other fillers and additives as “other ingredients”- then they can legally say that the product is true gordonii.

The government allows the diet supplement industry the use of “flow agents” to help simplify the process of manufacturing them.

The use of silica, cellulose, magnesium stereate, etc. can be easily avoided. However, scammers know that simply by declaring them on their labels as “Other Ingredients,” they can exploit a gaping loophole in the law at the customer’s expense. Therefore, they continue to do so.

But with today’s new high compression encapsulation machines, it’s no longer necessary. to load capsules with fillers-and still call it pure. It may cost more, but it’s the right thing to do.

Avoid the bait and switch technique where less than reputable companies give the lab a “special” genuine sample, then then sell you- the public, a fake or watered-down product.

Question # 3: CORRECT SPECIES- Does the product claim to be Hoodia gordonii of South African origin or just Hoodia? Of the more than 20 varieties of Hoodia known, only the gordonii species from South Africa has been proven to reduce caloric intake in humans. So-called “Chinese” Hoodia, for example, is fake.

Question # 4 ACTIVE PART- “Is the Hoodia I buy made from the biologically active part of the Hoodia gordonii Succulent. Does the vendor use only the peeled stem of the Hoodia gordonii plant?”

Don’t buy hoodia gordonii from a company that’s using the “whole plant” or anything other than purely the “peeled stems”. These would automatically contain atleast 50% less of the hoodia’s active ingredients necessary for the effective suppression of appetite.

The P57-active part of Hoodia gordonii-the peeled stem, NOT the bark, NOT the flowers, and NOT the root. This (peeled stem) is the part that is effective for appetite suppression.

Question #5: How potent is the hoodia that you are planning to buy? Is it made up of the highest potentcy possible? This takes atleast 3 and a half years for the stems to grow before the farmers harvest them.

When you get hoodia milled from immature plants, it may test “positive” for Hoodia , but will have insufficient P57 to suppress your appetite. Hoodia loses it’s strength when exposed to or dried in open sunlight, in kilns above a certain tempeature, or when milled above certain micron levels.