Hoodia Supplement Maker Sues Supplier for Fake Hoodia

As mentioned throughout this website, the vast majority of the hoodia diet pills on the market today are fake. Some experts say as much as 80% of the hoodia supplements sold today are fake or contain so little hoodia gordonii they will do nothing to suppress appetite.

You may be quick to blame the supplement manufacturers for this, but not so fast. In many instances, the source of the problem stems from the supply of the raw material being used. Supplement manufacturers don’t always know what they’re getting from their supplier and in some cases they are simply scammed. Today’s story is a perfect example of this.

Certified Natural Laboratories, a supplement manufacture based in Wichita, KS, filed a lawsuit last week against Stryka Botanics of Hillsborough, NJ for selling them fake hoodia gordonii. The Wichita maker is seeking more than $75,000 in losses and other damages.

Certified bought a number of shipments of hoodia gordonii from Stryka between 2004 and 2006. There was something suspicious, however, with the hoodia they purchased in August of 2006. The shipment didn’t come with the usual import papers (CITES certificate) or the independent third party lab test results verifying the shipment was authentic hoodia gordonii.

Certified’s owner, Dennis Wilkie, said that raised a red flag. Certified requested the independent lab test results numerous times and eventually got lab test results from Stryka’s own lab - not from an independent third party lab which is the standard. Suspicious of this, Certified had the hoodia gordonii tested. Wilkie said of the test results, “It was completely bogus.”

Certified also tested past shipments from Stryka and many were bad. That isn’t included in the lawsuit, however.

This is a perfect example of a supplement maker being scammed by the raw material supplier itself and passing on fake hoodia supplements without even knowing it. And in this case, the raw material supplier even provided lab test results (granted, it was from their own supposed lab). The point of this story is that supplement manufacturer’s need to be extremely cautious in the hoodia gordonii supply they purchase. It’s imperative that the shipments they purchase are accompanied with lab test results from reputable independent labs, or that the supplement maker themselves has the product tested and verified by an independent lab.

This story is another reason why I continue to stand behind the two hoodia diet pills listed on my best rated hoodia page. Both of those companies get their hoodia gordonii supply directly from hoodia farmers. They don’t buy from a raw material supplier. By getting their supply direct from the farmers, they know exactly what they’re getting and they have complete control over the supply.

Source: The Wichita Eagle