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NXCARE - Calorie-Care diet pills    Unbelievable health claims from Univ. of Guelph graduate student NXCARE.COM home page 6 week weight loss plan Calorie-Care Diet-Care Diet-Protein Iso-XP Heart-Care I have been following the recent events concerning professor Julie Conquer and Derek Woodgate, a student at the University of Guelph, in regards to a new diet pill named Calorie-Care. Two recent CKCO-TV news shows focused on the product made by NXCARE, Inc. I also have the original satellite broadcast made on April 29, 2003. I am utterly shocked by what I saw, and heard, not to mention the ethical consideration which have been raised by many people, and the press. SatelliteB-ROLL advisory from Canada Newswire - This advisory claims that their research demonstrated that Calorie-Care was 100% effective for weight loss over a six week period. This in and of itself could be highly suspect. Nothing in this world is 100% effective for anything. That is question number one. Question number two is whether or not the original research paper had been published in Current Therapeutics Research at the time of the broadcast. The fact is that it had not been published. The advisory told the MEDIA to contact: "Prof. Julie Conquer, Department of Human Biology and Nutritional Sciences, Director, Human Nutraceutical Research Unit (519) 824-4120, Ext. 53749." Current Therapeutic Research has previously published studies of a number of other diet pills. One of them you may remember was Xenadrine. If you recall that particular ephedra containing diet pill was implicated in numerous deaths across North America. So, the fact that Current Therapeutic Research publishes studies on diet pills somehow leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. There are scores of sites around the internet that still use the CTR study to hype dangerous diet pills. They can't do anything about it, but I wish they could. Why doesn't that journal warn the public? That's the least that they could do. I follow diet frauds and diet scams and run three web sites about health fraud. After I saw the CKCO broadcast, and news articles in the paper this week, and went to the NXCARE.COM web site, it not only left me with my mouth hanging open, I was at a loss for words and had a bad taste in my mouth trying to figure out the University of Guelph's angle here. University of Guelph public affairs press release seemed to be timed to coincide with the launch of launch of NXCARE's broadcast. How in the world did the Guelph University's HNRU (Human Nutrition Research Unit) ever approve the original research? How in the world did a graduate student ever put together enough support and financing to proceed with a startup nutraceutical company while working in research a the University of Guelph? I understand that $100,000 was available for some of this specific research a few years ago. Woodgate's web site clearly makes claims that there are a number of additional studies that the company is either directly, or indirectly involved with around the world. Is the University of Guelph involved in this, too? I have been unable to find what their website calls the NXCARE Nutraceutical Research Institute in the Federal database of non-profits, but I was able to find this on the Canadian government's database: NUTRITION & NUTRACEUTICAL RESEARCH CENTRE FOR THE SCIENTIFIC EVALUATION OF HEALTH CLAIMS INC. While the Calorie Care diet pill is not particularly dangerous, the idea that a graduate student, with or without the approval of a major university such as Guelph, to have any part in marketing this is a serious ethical matter. When CKCO TV was contacted and viewed the satellite feed from the company called NXCARE Inc. they were alarmed and devoted stories on their news two nights in a row. Their opinion was then and still is that this is a conflict of interest. Yet, the University of Guelph was aware of this and did not intervene. Who is running the ethics panel at the university when it comes to nutraceutical research? That's what CKCO can't understand, and neither do I. The published Calorie Care study was very small, it was not long term, and the claims made for the products are absurd on the NXCARE.COM web site. Secondly, as you will see below, two of their major ingredients that are in other diet pills have been condemned and vigorously prosecuted by the FTC over the years. Julie Conquer was also the principle investigator for MuscleTech's "Hydroxycut": "EFFECT OF EXERCISE AND HYDROXYCUT ON BODY COMPOSITION AND BODY WEIGHT IN OBESE MEN - PHASE II 28 Feb to 28 Aug 2001 with TE Graham" Missouri Attorney General Sues Hydroxycut Marketer Rearch on Muscle Tech at U of Guelph Questions for the University of Guelph 1. Why would they allow a graduate student to do a study that involved these ingredients in the first place. 2. Why would they allow a him to set up a for-profit corporation that uses the name of the senior researcher who helped with the study, and the name of the University of Guelph in their promotions? 3. Who paid for the video production and the satellite broadcast? 4. Who really owns NXCARE Inc. and where is it registered? 5. Is NXCARE Inc. a U.S. or Canadian company? 6. Why does it do business out of a Mail Boxes Etc. franchise in Guelph and a maildrop, shipping company in Tonawanda? 7. Where is the Calorie Care actually made, bottled, and shipped from? 8. Who sat on the committee that reviewed this research? 9. Did anyone at the University of Guelph complain, and if they did, who were they, and what did they say, and to whom did they say it? 10. There was $100,000 devoted to the original research study. Where did the funding originate, and was any of the money not spent on the study itself. 11. Who scripted Dr. Conquer's portion of the video? Who is actually behind the NXCARE company? Internet Registration for NXCARE - Note that this registration belongs to Derek Woodgate, the researcher (PhD student) who was the investigator. This is obviously a conflict of interest if I ever saw one. Note how there is no Canadian address, but there is one in Tonawanda, NY. That's really interesting isn't it. Tonawanda is right near Niagara Falls, NY. It would appear to be a mail drop called M&M Forwarding. Many companies use this address for shipping products. The address for NXCARE is in reality is a MBE (Mail Boxes Etc.) franchise location. BULLFROG MALL 28 - 380 ERAMOSA ROAD GUELPH, ONTARIO N1E 7E1, CANADA Who is Derek Woodgate, and what else does he do besides working on his PhD research at the University of Guelph? Derek Woodgate is listed in the ASPEN (American Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition) membership database as a "PH". Woodgate is not a PhD. He only has a masters degree and is described below. Was this simply an error when he filled out the database, or was it intentional? "Derek","Woodgate","Derek Woodgate PH","","14 Langford Court","","Brampton","ON","L6W 4K4","Canada","9056783119","","","1034014" Where is NXCARE, Inc. registered or incorporated? - I couldn't find it registered on the Canadian government's Strategis business database. It may be on the Ontario database. NXCARE is listed on the U of Guelph's research revenue sponsor's page: Someone had $100,000 to research "neutraceuticals". Note the mispelling here. NXCARE is not registered on the Health Canada's DPD database, and their product Calorie Care is not there either. Ingredients: Konplex - glucomannan FTC has serious concerns about this ingredient - Search Google for FTC + glucomannan FTC 1997 decision - archived Natural Products Insider on FTC actions MLMLEGAL.COM Lipidbloc - It's only Chitosan, which is basically ground-up shellfish exoskeletons. If you remember the recent FTC actions against Fat Blaster, you will recognize this ingredient. You should know that the FTC has held Enforma, the company that makes this junk, in contempt of court. Guess what? Fat Blaster is still on the market in Canada.: Google search for FTC + Chitosan Google search for Fat Blaster + FTC Another study finds chitosan useless for weight loss - Eur J Clin Nutr 1999 May;53(5):379-81 THE BOTTOM LINE WHY WOULD THE UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH HAVE CONTINUED WITH THIS RESEARCH KNOWING THAT BOTH CHITOSAN AND GLUCOMANNAN HAVE BEEN ATTACKED BY THE FTC? WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT SMALL FINES HERE, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, AND CONTEMPT OF COURT CITATIONS ISSUED AGAINST SOME OF THESE COMPANIES. DID THE UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH JUST IGNORE THIS? IN ADDITION WHERE DID THE $100,000 COME FROM TO FUND THE RESEARCH? WHERE IS IT MANUFACTURED? WHO REGULATES THIS PRODUCT AND ITS CLAIMS IN CANADA? WHO ARE THE "DOCTORS" THAT RECOMMEND IT? WHY DID THEIR REVIEW OF RESEARCH NOT CONSIDER THE FACT THAT THE FTC FOUND MAJOR PROBLEMS WITH THESE INGREDIENTS AND TOOK ACTION AGAINST COMPANIES THAT MADE WILD CLAIMS? WILL THE UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH ADDRESS THIS AND TELL THE PUBLIC WHAT IT WILL DO TO PROTECT THE INTEGRITY OF THE UNIVERSITY? Back to DietFraud.com Support our work with your donation Terry Polevoy DietFraud.com

"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, MD DietFraud.com 65 University Ave. East, Unit 10A Waterloo, ON N2J 2V9 SEND US YOUR ADVERTISEMENTS: Please send any questionable diet ads in your local paper or magazines from this company. Include the date, the name of the publication, and we will scan them in and forward them to the proper department at the Bureau of Competition of Industry Canada. Please send them even if the ads were in non-Canadian publications. American and other foreign magazines are everywhere. If we don't know that the scams are out there, we won't be able to complain.