Ever since the BBC reported to the world that hoodia gordonii was being used as a weight loss supplement, there has been so much of interest generated in the hoodia cactus plant. Of course, that meant that every Tom, Dick and Harry tried to get onto the bandwagon and make hay while the sun shines. So suddenly, there mushroomed around 300 products that were supposed to contain hoodia. Most of them claimed to contain the genuine hoodia gordonii.
Just that report on 60 Minutes on the BBC was enough to send the prices of hoodia soaring and from a few products suddenly there were hundreds of products in the market. Media coverage plays a large part in pushing up sales and this was no exception. The demand went up so much that certain countries in Africa where pure hoodia was grown had to put impose restrictions on the harvesting and exports of hoodia. So what really happened was that many of the products that said they contained hoodia gordonii did not – and other varieties of hoodia were being passed off as hoodia gordonii. With the price jumping from $13 a kg to $250 a kg, little wonder that many of the hoodia tablets and capsules were fake.
Many supplement companies supported their products with a lot of advertising and marketing and when a test was run by Alkemists Pharmaceuticals, it was found that not even half the supplements in the market contained hoodia gordonii. Even though there is no clinically proved research to prove that pure hoodia gordonii is a hunger suppressant, people are buying it, hoping that it helps them to lose weight. So, one finds that there are many other forms of the product besides the tablets, capsules, powders and liquid that are available.
One company started marketing hoodia lollipops calling them PowerPops. This was first announced on the entertainment news show called Extra. However, it really is a gamble as to which products contain the real hoodia and which don’t. There have been many complaints by consumers about the non-action of the hoodia that they have been taking. There are also complaints that the hoodia pills they bought contain no hoodia at all. Unfortunately, supplements do not come under the purview of the FDA and so cannot be disciplined the way prescription drugs are. So the manufacturers have a field day, putting in no hoodia at all or very little hoodia and making all the money they can before Phytopharm launches its real hoodia extract.