First, ask yourself- "Does the place I am getting hoodia gordonii from allows ongoing, random, anonymous testing of their hoodia products by an independent lab?" Just as important, are they only getting by with sending in a batch sample with a lot number for testing?

Here's why.

There are dishonest vendors who will display the lot numbers tested on their website from a lab considered to be very reputable. But, the only way to know that this constitutes irrefutable proof of their hoodia product's strength is if the company permits ongoing, anonymous, and random testing of the actual product that is sold to the consumer. This should be completely verifiable, and also the testing should be done where the vendor doesn't know the exact testing place, where the products are bought from nor when the product was purchased. The results from such testing should be displayed right on the testing laboratorie's websites.

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!

There is a trick known as the "O.I. (Other Ingredients) trick. Unless the manufacturer lists the other ingredients as "None", then it can list other fillers and additives as "Other Ingredients" and they can legally say that the product's full gross weight as being true Hoodia Gordonii.

The government allows the diet supplement industry the use of "flow agents" to help simplify the process of manufacturing them.

Through the use of magnesium stereate, cellulose, silica, and other similar ingredients, the manufacturers are able to exploit the loophole in the law regarding "other ingredients"- at YOUR expense.

But with today's new high compression encapsulation machines, it's no longer necessary. to load capsules with fillers-and still call it pure. It may cost more, but it's the right thing to do.

Avoid the common "Bait and Switch" practice in which less than reputable vendors spoon-feed the lab a genuine sample, but then sell the public a counterfeit or 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- What part of the hoodia plant does the product come from? It should be made from the biologically active part of the Hoodia gordonii Succulent. You need to find out if the vender stricly uses the peeled stem from the hoodia gordonii plant.

You shouldn't buy hoodia gordonii from any company using the "whole plant" or anything that isn't purely the "peeled stems. These products would automatically have atleast 50% less of the hoodia's active ingredients necessary for effective appetite control.

You don't want the root, nor the flowers, nor the bark. The P-57 part of the plant- or "peeled stem" is the part of the hoodia plant that you want.

Question # 5: POTENCY - Am I sure the Hoodia I buy is of the highest potency possible. Does the company or its farmers patiently cultivate the Hoodia succulents for at least 3-1/2 years before harvesting the stems?

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.