Here is the reason why.

Some unscrupulous vendors will display their lot numbers and results from a lab considered to be very reputable. However, the only way to know that this is undisputable proof of the hoodia product's potency is if the company permits ongoing, random and anonymous testing of the actual product that the consumer buys from them. This testing should be completely verifiable, and the testing should be done without the vendor knowing the exact place that the products were to be tested, , where purchased and when the products were tested. The results of each of these tests should be displayed right on the testing laboratory's website.

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.

Using cellulose, silica, magnesium stereate, and other similar ingredients can be avoided easily. However, scammers know that they can simply declare them as "other ingredients", thereby exploiting the big loophole in the law at the consumer's expense.

With the new high compression encapsulation machines, it's not necessary to load up the capsules with fillers and additives- yet still be able to call it "pure". It might cost more to do so, but it's the right thing to do.

Now you know how to avoid this common "bait and switch" practice that the less than honorable companies use when they give the lab a "souped up" supposedly authentic sample, yet sell you, the consumer, a watered down product.

Question #3: Does the place that you are wanting to buy the hoodia from claim it to be of South African origin, or just say "hoodia"? There are over 20 varieties of hoodia, but only the one from South Africa has been proven to reduce the caloric intake of humans. If you see "Chinese Hoodia" for example- I wouldn't buy it.

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.

Hoodia that is milled from immature plants can test positve for hoodia, but yet still have very low levels of P-57 which is the ingredient that suppresses the appetite. Also, hoodia loses strength when it's kiln dried or in open sunlight. Also, potency is lost when the hoodia is milled above a certain micron level.