Hoodia gordonii is a succulent plant found in Namibia, Angola, South Africa and Botswana. The San people of Kalahari Desert were found to possess the knowledge of its many uses. They used the plant as an appetite suppressant when they go for hunting which would last a few days. The extracts of this plant was patented by South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in 1997. CSIR named the extract P57. CSIR then sold the exclusive rights of P57 to Phytopharm, a British drug company. Phytopharm in turn licensed the right to produce to Pfizer. But Hoodia became internationally well known only after BBC reported on the plant in 2003. Later in 2004, 60 Minutes reported its use as a natural appetite suppressant.
Hoodia became a favorite weight loss product in the global market. But the fact that this knowledge was owned by San Bushmen was simply not remembered or acknowledged. The media then raked up this issue accusing Phytopharm of biopiracy. Confronted with this, Phytopharm lamely defended itself saying that the San people no longer existed when tens of thousands of them actually inhabited the southern African countries covering the Kalahari Desert. CSIR then admitted in 2003 that the San people were the source of this knowledge and that a portion of the royalty would indeed be shared with them. It is estimated that 0.003 percent of the retail sales were to be their share. This was a pittance though the point was well taken. Meanwhile, Pfizer returned Phytopharm the production rights who later transferred the rights to Unilever. Unilever were into production of diet foods such as Slim Fast. The company announced its intention to produce functional foods with Hoodia as the main ingredient.
A number of companies too launched Hoodia products in the wake of its popularity. They claimed that their products contained genuine Hoodia sourced from Africa. These products were introduced in the market in such brand names as Hoodia Pure, Dex-L10 Hoodia, HoodiThin Liquid, Hoodia Extract, H57 Hoodia, Tru Hoodia Diet, Hoodia Shake, Hoodia Gordonii Shake Mix, Hoodia SlimQuick, Hoodoba, Hoodia Supreme and Desert Burn. Hoodia though the main ingredient were combined with a few other useful items in most of these products. For instance, calcium, Green Tea and Vitamin D3 along with Hoodia of Slimquick Hoodia is targeted to women as a weight loss diet.
In the meanwhile Phytopharm acquired two more patents for the treatment of gastric disorders. More patent applications have been subsequently filed. There are other potential uses of the Hoodia such as sexual dysfunction, and the operation of glands such as the sweat, saliva and prostrate glands.
Health is significant. That is why, health should always be considered a number one priority among everything else.
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