Thanks to the considerable hype generated by the weight loss and diet pill industry about hoodia weight loss pills, it can be quite difficult to judge the quality of a product by looking at their high-gloss websites. One online commentator claims that between 60%-80% of all hoodia weight loss products are not what they claim, ranging from not entirely pure through to not even remotely close. You can read more about how to spot the genuine hoodia and how to identify shady operators by looking at some quality hoodia diet pill reviews.

There are six checks to prove that a company is selling pure Hoodia Gordonii appetite suppressant, and they should display all six certificates on their website. The first three are issued by authorities in South Africa and in your country authorising the purchase and shipping of the extract of an endangered species. The remaining three are authentications from independent scientific testing.

Any company that imports Hoodia Gordonii to the USA from South Africa must have - and should display - three official government certificates.

The first, known as the CITES certificate, is an authorisation to deal in an endangered species (such as Hoodia Gordonii). Do not deal with any company that does not display their CITES certificate prominently on their website.

The second certificate is a "Phytosanitary" permit issued by the government of South Africa permitting the dealer to remove the product from South Africa.

The third certificate is issued by the US Dept of Agriculture (and simply known as the USDA certificate) to permit the dealer to import the product into the USA. If the manufacturer claims to directly import Hoodia Gordonii from South Africa then they should be displaying this certificate on their website.

The Need For Independent Testing

With the increasing numbers of online hoodia sellers, most reputable manufacturers regularly submit their products to a well known independent testing facility which has the authority to certify genuine hoodia products. While there are four recognised labs that can do the testing, most companies seem to present certificates from Alkemist Labs in California.

There are three different tests to ensure the sample is what it claims to be, and unless you are a chemist yourself you don't need to know much about them. They are known as HPTLC, HPLC and MM-DPD, with HPTLC being the most important. At the very least you should be able to see an HPTLC certificate, if not all three.

If the company does not display results certificates from an independent testing facility, do not buy from them. There are far too many unreliable dealers out there to take a risk on one that doesn't display their testing certificates!

Finally, as a matter of good customer service you should expect that the company offers a toll free information line that will also handle orders (if you prefer the phone to buying online) and a clear refund policy if you're not happy with the product.