CBS '60 Minutes' Program on Hoodia Gordonii

The American TV Channel CBS set their reporter Lesley Stahl the task of discovering the truths behind 'Hoodia Gordonii' -
the potential answer to the Wests major self-inflicted disease 'obesity'.

"The hoodia plant in the Kalahari Desert could become the newest weapon in the war against obesity"
Comment from the CBS Report

Being in the UK, I was unable to actually see the program, but am basing my comments here on the review of the program on CBS News site.

I am also taking the opportunity to comment on some of the issues raised by the program which have been picked up by customers and users of Hoodia Gordonii based products.

" ... the only place in the world where hoodia grows wild is in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa."

Wrong ... Check Phytopharms own site to find out:

[Referring to the wild plant] "Hoodia gordonii is very rare and is protected by national conservation laws in South Africa and Namibia."

Further, in relation to 'CITES' (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora): "A proposal to include Hoodia on Appendix II has been submitted by the range states (South Africa, Namibia and Botswana)"

So Hoodia Gordonii grows wild in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.

The important thing to note though is that no company should be supplying products using these sources. It is illegal to harvest wild stocks of Hoodia.

How can you tell if a company is using illegal stocks? Generally they will be cheaper. This may sound good to you, the end user, but unfortunately not that good. There are several species of Hoodia. The one we are interested is the Gordonii. There have been many instances of 'mistaken identity', so in fact you may not be getting genuine Hoodia Gordonii with cheaper 'money-saving' products.

Also, by buying products made from illegally harvested wild stock, no royalties are going back to the tribespeople - so you are denying them the opportunity to benefit from a better future.

The Patent ...

The patent is on the active ingredient within the Hoodia Gordonii - which has been named P57.

Although you can patent an active ingredient within a plant, it is impossible to patent a whole plant.

Phytopharm intend to extract the P57 from the Hoodia Gordonii for use as an added ingredient in weight loss products.

Because of the patent, Hoodia companys should not actively advertise their products as containing P57, or use terms such as extract or 20:1 (20:1 - it takes 2o kilos of fresh Hoodia Gordonii core to make 1 kilo of Hoodia Core powder).

You will no doubt have seen some companies using these terms - they are actually breaking the law under the terms of the patent.

So although they cannot advertise the fact, logic dictates that those companys that use properly laboratory refined Hoodia Gordonii powder in their supplements, any active ingredients would still be present in the finished product.

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