Algoxyll and AquaSvelt - Seaweed Diet Scams

A report from Australia indicates that a company is targetting people via direct mailings. This product is called AquaSvelt which is a combination of 3 seaweeds and 29 traditional Chinese herbs. It's basically the same as the Algoxyll product. Aquasvelt is marketed by AquaSvelt c/o Elyseum Group with Logistics and Marketing in Asia-Pacific by International Fulfilment Services Pty Ltd. After tracking down the Elyseum folks, it leads directly to a German site that markets Algoxyll. The site also links to two other countries. A number of other Algoxyll companies around the world also seem to be marketing similar products.

Rainbow Investigations Exclusive to Dietfraud.com

Rainbow Investigations had investigated a Toronto based weight loss promotion. This one, known as the Algoxyll Campaign. Their web site has been blocked and is not available via a cached or archived format: www.algoxyll.com.

This particular operation has some similiarities with previous Toronto based promotions. The originating company is being called Geneva Bioscience Ltd., however there appears to be no such company listed in Ontario.

The address of 1370 Don Mills Road, Suite #300, North York, Ontario is a small shared office complex.

The phone numbers listed for the company are a bit strange. The U.S. advertisements list a phone number of 1-866-257-0877. This number leads to an answering service in Maryland.

Upon questioning how to reach Geneva Bioscience Limited, callers are led to a Customer Service Number, 1-877-818-1637, which just happens to lead to another answering service - this one located in New Brunswick, Canada. This is the same location that PhytoPharma uses for its answering services. We are suspicious that the same answering service is involved again!

Shari, the manager of this "business centre" reported that they are a fairly big firm, and have a number of these "business centres" around Toronto. She would not divulge the actual identity of the people who run the Geneva BioScience maildrop. She stated that they have to "provide this courtesy to their client", and unless the RCMP shows up at their door, they would not assist in this matter.

For those of you who would like to ask Shari about why she would not help us, you can call her at 416-441-0400. We feel that Canadian law that allows private mailboxes to avoid scrutiny from public complaints and inquiry is nothing more than an ass. Mailbox drops that protect their business clients are part and parcel of any scam.

This promotion uses a combination of seaweeds to lose weight. The theory behind this weight loss is that the seaweed fucus vesiculosus contains iodine, which stimulates the thyroid gland to make thyroid hormone, which may increase metabolism. Increased metabolism then, as the theory goes, may lead to some weight loss.

The scientific evidence on this is minimal and sketchy at best. First of all, there is no way to know if the iodine levels in the fucus from this product do in fact alter thyroid activity. One study in the mid 1990's on hypertensive patients with obesity, using fucus in combination with diet, spirulina and gelatin had no weight loss over a twelve week period (study by Monego et al 1996 - can be referenced at the Health Psychology Home Page of Vanderbilt University

Rainbow Investigations would be interested in hearing from consumers who have seen this product advertised. Let us know where you've seen it. Go to their site above and let them know.

"Do Nothing" Policies

OUR GOVERNMENTS' "DO NOTHING" POLICIES ENCOURAGE REPEAT FLIM-FLAMS

When is the government of Canada going to take action against the newspapers and the companies who market this junk on unsuspecting consumers.

We demand a complete investigation why the government has failed to take action against any of these companies. The diet and weight loss scam industry is worth billions in North America, and much of it comes from Canada. In other words our country is a safe-haven for hundreds of scam artists who use the internet and advertise freely in newspapers without fear of investigation by our governement. Someone right now stands to make millions operating from the safety of Toronto, right under the noses of Health Canada and the Ontario government consumer protection branch.

We appeal to the ASC, the government, both Provincial and Federal to take control of the fraud artists that are preying on the public. Right now, Canada is the laughing stock of the world when it comes to the control of health quackery.

We will continue to do everything possible to educate the Canadian public about scam artists and rogue health care providers on our web sites. But, it seems clear from where I sit, that our governments just doesn't care about false advertising, health scams and the dangerous products that come into our country. They also don't care about mailorder scams that originate here, but are often part of an underground cash-filled pipeline to some island in the Lesser Antilles.

The world of health fraud on the internet includes dozens of other stories, some of them are very serious and involve doctors who are try to ship quack cancer drugs out of Canada into the U.S. That's another story, one that we will cover later on.

Office of Natural Health Products

What did the government do about diet and health fraud? Late last year, they decided to form a new office, a spin-off of Health Canada. They appointed a dozen or so people to a transition team, the overwhelming majority supposedly represented the cream of the crop who work in companies that supply Canada with vitamins, herbs, and other alternative health products. These are the very people who can't prove that their products work, who can't prove that there products are safe, and yet the government appoints them to a transition team to set up standards in the natural and herbal product industry.

While the company that sells this particular product featured in this article is unknown, it is a prime example of what the government has failed to do. Having an Office of Natural Health Products is like putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop.

Why hasn't Health Canada or the police visited the vendors, and their associates to see what is really going on. Where is the money going from their profits? Is it being laundered overseas?

We Demand that Action be Taken Now!

Our web sites will cover the story of government failure to control the false claims made in major publications, on the internet, on the radio and televison info-mercials until something is done.

Terry Polevoy, M.D.
Dietfraud.com
938 King St. West
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
N2G 1G4
519-725-4953 fax.