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Apologies for the bad translation here but if you want you can read the news at ABC.ES (in Spanish). A man has DIED and another person in the family is affected by a poisoning, presumably associated to the consumption of noni (a tropical fruit) juice, in the granadina locality of Ogíjares. The Council of Health has issued an alert. The American company Tahitian Noni International, that sells the juice, assured that its product was approved by European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in 2003 and has passed controls sanitary as much in Tahití, producing island of the fruit, like in the countries where east juice is bottled. BUT DID THEY ALSO ADMIT TO CONTAMINATION ISSUES ? This man, of 40 years of age, died shortly after having had breakfast that included Noni Juice, of which he was habitual consumer. A few minutes after ingesting the juice the victim felt a sensation of creeps in the mouth and blurred vision. These symptoms also affected the other person who took the juice. Health services could do nothing for the man and had two hypotheses; poisoning or anaphylactic shock. The article also says that in addition to Noni Juice being sold as a “health supplement” that there is no scientific evidence of ANY benefits attributed to Noni Juice. Kathrin Aue from Tahitian Noni in Europe defends the juice by saying it is “totally safe” for human consumption because it has passed all requirements of the EFSA. In a statement the company said it is trying to find the lot number of the bottle in order to figure out what region of French Polynesia the noni came from and from what trees it was extracted. WE DOUBT THAT VERY MUCH, WHICH TREE IT CAME FROM?! And last but not least,
From Typically Spanish: “The juice is Tahitian Noni imported by a company in Mexico. The Junta de Andalucía’s health department has issued a warning about a tropical fruit juice understood to be sold over the Internet which could be associated with a fatal case of food poisoning in Ogíjares, Granada province. A relative of the victim was also taken ill”. Why is this not surprising after learning about contamination and quarantine situations at Tahitian Noni International? Could this have been prevented by the FDA and FTC? What could the European Union have done about this? Lots, of course. But they didn’t. How can a so-called “health” and “wellness” company, operating as a pyramid scheme also known as MLM (multi level marketing) ship bad products and not expect trouble over it? How can contamination problems causing extremely high levels of potassium and associated yeast and bacteria (normally killed by preservatives) not lead to anything other than trouble? Do we need to start reminding people that the patent on Noni Juice that Tahitian Noni so proudly loves to mention is that for a SEWAGE CLEANING solution? Is this a death that resulted from greed, ego, and the desire to earn money selling a snake-oil cure-all badly produced bottle of “miracle” juice? It certainly might be and inquiring minds want to know. We are certain that Tahitian Noni International would love for this to be the end of that sad story but it shouldn’t be, and won’t be. No amount of crisis management, threats, or underhanded corporate politics will end that story because it’s a story that needs to be told and everyone remotely aware of how Tahitian Noni Juice is sold knows that the real value of the product is the stories they use to sell it by. Well, will the family of the deceased have a story to tell you then! Stay tuned for more information and details as this situation gets examined, scrutinized and published. A spokeswoman of Tahitian Noni has indicated that the company is collaborating with the Spanish authorities to determine the cause of the death that followed the consumption of the juice. You can read the entire warning issued by the AESAN here (in Spanish).
Public warning issued after tropical juice death Health authorities in Andalucía have issued an alert after two members of a family from Sevilla fell ill, one of whom has since died, after consuming a tropical fruit juice. The product is sold in a one litre glass bottle and is labelled Other information appearing on the label reveals that it was manufactured in the USA and exported by a Mexican distributor: ‘Hecho en E.U.A. por Morinda, Inc. Importado por: Morinda Internacional México, S de R.L.R.F.C.: MIM990610 1N2. Av. Paseo de la Reforma 265 P.C.Col Cuauhtemoc, Mexico, D.F.C.P. 06500. n-011824-1 010904-MX 2002 Morinda, Inc.’ Regrettably the batch number and expiry date stamps are illegible on the only available sample. Results of toxicology tests will confirm whether the victim’s death was caused by the juice though the public is being warned to refrain from consuming this product and any others that may be incorrectly labelled, especially if any of the following essential information is missing - manufacturer’s name and address, product description, batch number, or best before date. You can read the entire warning issued by the AESAN here (in Spanish). The headlines in many places are starting to say La AESAN alerta sobre el consumo de ‘Jugo de Noni TAHITIAN NONI’. The shocking news about Tahitian Noni Juice causing a lethal situation has even caused a stirr in Singapore. The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) confirms that there is no import of the Jugo de Noni Tahitian Noni Juice into Singapore. Consumers are advised to discard the affected product if they had purchased this product over the Internet or outside of Singapore for personal consumption. For Spanish readers, follow this link.
Becky writes on her blog:
Mike Moran is the latest disillusioned TNI IPC. Or, in his own words: I can’t understand why I can’t get this business going, I have tried very hard, but people just give up as soon as the fast start finishes and nothing I have tried can change their minds. You say that Global advertising is about to happen, I hope that this comes about. I was told a couple of years ago that the man who made “BOEING” an accepted name Worldwide was joining TNI to manage any advertising and that life would be easier after that. It never happened, or if it did happen,it never worked.
“Thanks for responding to my notice on WAHM. The job is for a Processor for Tahitian Noni International. Processors receive orders, confirm availability, receive payment for the orders and pay employees/vendors. Salary is $2000 monthly, paid bi-weekly via bank wire, plus 5% of every order you process. Orders are processed via bank wire and sometimes Paypal. If this sounds like something you would be interested in, let me know and I’ll send you an application and an NDA to sign. If you have any questions, let me know. My name on Skype is Renae.hrc, feel free to call. I look forward to hearing from you.” Signed by, Renae Lindley. As the The Eclectic WAHM responds: Repeat after me, folks: THERE IS NO LEGITIMATE JOB PROCESSING PAYMENTS FROM HOME. It is always a scam. Every time. There isn’t a legitimate company out there that needs its employees to transact company business through their own personal accounts. If a job asks you to accept payments, keep some of it then forward the rest on, and you actually do it… you’ve bought yourself a ticket to debt and jail.
Source: Akron BBB Under the terms of the agreement, Morinda will not claim the product can cure, treat or prevent disease until it is approved by the FDA. Further, the company will not make any such claims without substantial scientific evidence and will refrain from using testimonials implying that the advertised results are the typical experience of a consumer in acutal conditions of use, unless there is adequate information that the results are indeed typical. Morinda must provide refunds to consumers upon request and pay $100,000 in investigative costs. Coincidentally, the company also uses the Internet to promote a multi-level business opportunity to retail the product. And it is approved to sell as maintenance for cholesterol?
Source: Utah MLMarketing
Source: Utah MLMarketing
Source: Daily Herald A legal dispute involving Tahitian Noni and a California group over a hormone cream the Provo company claims treats menopausal symptoms, was recently settled. Tahitian Noni paid $50,500 to the California Women’s Law Center, a Los Angeles-based women’s civil rights group, and its executive director, Katherine Lee Buckland, to settle a lawsuit alleging violations of California’s health and safety codes and other consumer protection laws relating to unlawful competition and false advertising. Tahitian Noni, in its settlement, agreed to add warning labels to its product — the Tahiti Trim Plan 40 Body Balance Cream — that states it contains progesterone, “a chemical known to the state of California to cause cancer” and should only be used with a physician’s advice. According the National Cancer Institute, a large clinical trial published in 2002 showed that hormone replacement therapy (a combination of the hormones estrogen and progesterone) increased women’s risk of developing breast cancer and heart disease. But these cancer warnings will only be added to Body Balance Cream products sold in California. That’s because California has Proposition 65, a state law that requires companies to provide warning labels if their products contain chemicals that can cause cancer and birth defects. Michael Drake, assistant general counsel for Tahitian Noni, said the company isn’t required to provide cancer warnings on hormone creams sold in Utah or elsewhere. “The consent judgment has to do with labeling requirements in California. We just need to adjust our product labeling in California,” he said. Mike Weingarten, global public relations manager for Tahitian Noni, declined to comment on the number of Body Balance Cream products sold annually in Utah and nationwide. Roger Carrick, lead attorney for the California group, said Utahns should call on their federal and state regulators including the Attorney General’s Office and request similar cancer warnings in Utah. Carrick said the FDA has not recognized the cream as safe or effective. But the product is still advertised as a way to ease menopause symptoms and is sold mainly in stores and on the Internet. Still, scientists are divided over the role of progesterone in cancer risk. Paul Murphy, spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office in Utah, said he couldn’t specify immediately what steps would be taken by the government. “A private lawsuit against a single company isn’t likely to force the government to act,” he said. With the passage of the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, which is co-authored by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the burden of showing whether a drug or a supplement was unsafe is now placed on the federal Food and Drug Administration, rather than on the company. “We hope the FDA will take the cream off the market. We filed the lawsuit after the California Women’s Law Center, while working with breast cancer victims, found these hormone cream products were being sold,” said Carrick, who believes that thousands of women used the product in California. The settlement, approved by California Superior Court Judge Robert Hess last month, is one of 50 reached to date since the California non-profit filed suit in 2005 against 60-plus companies nationwide that made similar products with hormones. Tahitian Noni settled without admission of guilt. This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA Click Here to read the Consent Judgment that TNI has agreed to. In short, for those who do not wish to read the entire legal agreement. A while ago we reported that the TNI Tahiti Trim Plan 40 cream was a target of lawsuit because of the ingredients being known to cause cancer. It has taken some time but TNI has agreed to pay a settlement sum to the California Women’s Law Center and will put labels on the current and future products that make use of Progesterone, Medroxyprogesterone acetate, Testosterone and its esters, Methyltestosterone, Testosterone cypionate, and/or Testosterone enanthate as an ingredient and will present a warning when people buy these products by direct sales or internet sales;
Why are tax opportunities and real-estate being promoted at the London Sales office of Tahitian Noni International? You could ask Liquid Assets UK, Ltd. and What If Consultants about that. If you have been approached by a company called Liquid Assets UK, Ltd. or What If Consultants, you can probably already guess what this article is about. Both these companies hold their meetings on the 24th Floor at Centrepoint, New Oxford St, London. For those unfamiliar with the address, that is the London Sales office of Tahitian Noni International. What If Consultants regularly invites people to attend their so-called “free” seminars, in which they bombard the audience with ways to enter into the Noni Juice network. They lure people in by pretending that their “free” seminar is to help you claim between 2.000 and 6.000 UK pounds (that’s $4.000 to $12.000) tax back. They call this an “amazing opportunity”. Of course the real goal of these “free” seminars is to get you hooked into the Noni Juice network, sign you up as distributors (IPC’s, Independent Product Consultants)-or, if nothing else, turn you into a believer who will consume the juice and spend hundreds a month for the “pleasure” of ordering cases of smelly putrid tasting juice. They argue that if you enter into their “amazing opportunity,” you will essentially be running your own business and can thus get certain tax breaks. Of course, once you are hooked, you will learn that the opportunity is everything but amazing. Liquid Assets Uk, Ltd. describes itself as a company that provides “free” seminars “at which you will learn how you can set up a simple income-producing asset using some little-known strategies to your benefit, without changing your current occupation”. It’s a typial MLM and pyramid scheme lure to get people to fall for it. In both cases these “free” seminars are, of course, not presented or explained as associated or involved with Tahitian Noni Juice in any way, and the relation between the so-called “free” information and the juice scam are hidden from plain view to you as an attendee in these meetings. At their most recent meeting they also had Mr. Ade Shokoya (Adewale Shokoya), from Genie Properties, provide “secrets” about the property market while offering special discounts for various activities. You can see Mr. Adewale Shokoya pictured in between that of Donald Trump and other tycoons (the digital e-book can be licensed, having your “bonus section” added to it, and have it prepared for re-sale, all resulting in the ability to claim one is a licensed co-author alongside people like Donald Trump who’s contribution to the original e-book is granting permission for a reprint of a small part of his own book “Trump, The Art Of The Deal”). In the “bonus content” you will find an article “How to Turn £11,374 Into £125,998 in Less Than 2 Months”. We will, of course, save you the boring details. Mr. Ade Shokoya has said to be Mentor on the North London “Silver Diamond Programme.” Note that this is NOT this Silver Diamond program! This is a different company that does real-estate, bulk mailing and mailing lists (otherwise known as spam), and they do MLM business opportunities, too. We are not certain what Mr. Shokoya’s involvement is in the Noni business or if there is any. Perhaps they had invited him as a presenter without knowing the controversial nature of Noni Juice and MLM’s. Mr. Shokoya appears also to run shopwithgenie, an online retail shop. We recommend always being careful when dealing with real-estate because there are a lot of scams out there, often operated by predatory realtors. One of those is called a “1-2-3 construction” which you can find out about with a few online searches. Also, if property investment companies lists things like “If you choose to use your own mortgage broker to arrange a mortgage, make sure they are experienced in handling creative finance techniques transaction.” and “The valuation instructed on a property, by the lender, is not necessarily the open market value. Down-valuations can occur in some instances. This cannot be controlled and you may have to find more money to put into an investment, especially in instances of no-deposit down deals.” then it certainly looks to us as a reason to be cautious. Anyone who is asked or offered to present at meetings that are intended to promote controversial pyramid schemes with a controversial reputation should always be careful about what it is they are getting associated with. There are organizers out there who couldn’t care less who they inadvertently associate with their MLM recruitment activities. Isn’t Noni bringing in enough money at this point? Why is the London office used for all this? The involvement of these two companies with Tahitian Noni is very clear, though. Liquid Assets UK, Ltd. and What If Consultants are both run by Mr. Nick Menz. Mr. Menz, together with Mr. Nick Holden, both from Australia, have been instrumental in introducing Noni Juice to the UK. How much of the profits from these activities does the TNI HQ and its directors get, if any? Or doesn’t the corporate HQ of TNI know that these side-businesses are being operated out of their London office? Or does TNI only profit from the new signups into the network and as such allow the side-businesses to bring in new recruits? Either way, it’s a fishy situation that smells worse than Noni Juice itself.
Has quality control at TNI gone down the drain with quarantined juice spinning out of control and straight into a dumping ground? Recent information that has been provided to us certainly indicates that there are serious quality control problems with the Noni Juice. UPDATE: MORE INFORMATION AND PICTURES HERE We all know that Tahitian Noni Juice smells bad and tastes even worse but for many this has been a reason to claim that the worse it is, the better the quality and the more it will cure you. Unfortunately, it is TNI who is in need of a cure to combat the quality control issues that are being reported as causing both significant financial drain and contaminated bottles of juice. With the financial drain putting pressure on TNI it has now become clear that there is an increased risk of having contaminated bottles finding their way down to the consumers. This contamination has been an ongoing battle for TNI because of the process used to produce the final bottles of Noni Juice that are sold as cure-all miracles. TNI, like many juice producers, prides themselves on their quality control. If that is the case when why is there so much concern over quarantined batches? Before the main component of Noni Juice reaches the bottling plant for processing it is first harvested, which includes both the “fruit” as well as the weeds and plant debris that are contained in barrels for a while where it would probably rot and ferment. Around that time it gets shipped by sea at which point the fermenting noni is enough to make your stomach turn inside out based on stories we have heard who have seen it up close. The heating and flash pasteurization at the processing plant are applied to combat several key problems with potassium levels and yeasts. The contamination with bacteria and microbial side effects are normally dealt with under quality control. This Quality Control that TNI has always claimed they were proud of must have been been dealt a significant blow with the termination and loss of key employees in charge of QC. These changes, which are a follow-up to the employment termination of Mr. Eldon Pierce, who was previously in control of quality control. As a result QC has been repositioned as a unit under Marketing, which is Mr. Kelly Olsen’s department where the noni juice is now only being tested by random compliance tests which involves testing only a few bottles of juice that pass the quality test and which are subsequently used as a “pass” to ship an entire batch of bottles. With the termination of employment of those people who were the only line of defense against the nasty mass of rotten compost that is used to create the Noni Juice there is now a higher risk of consumers potentially buying contaminated juice. Not a very healthy situation! We also learned that the quarantined juice products that do not pass quality control are stored in the big warehouse near their bottling plant and that there is a lot of activity there when this quarantined mess is taken away to be dumped and covered up.
The Noni Watch has just learned that the Carrick Law Group that had sent a notice of violation to Tahitian Noni regarding the use of Progesterone in Tahiti Trim Plan 40 products have settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. Tahitian Noni International will be placing warning labels on their products. The Notice that the Carrick Law Group sent stated that in the course of doing business, TNI, knowingly and intentiolally exposed, and continued to expose, individuals (especially woman) to the listed chemicals and that no clear and reasonable warning is or has been provided by TNI to individuals regarding exposure to the listed chemicals or regarding the fact that these are known to the State of California to be a health risk. The state of California lists Progesterone, Medroxyprogesterone acetate, Testosterone and its esters as carcinogens (known to cause cancer) and lists Medroxyprogesterone acetate, Methyltestosterone, Testosterone cypionate and Testosterone enanthate, as reproductive toxins.
Source Typical order: $120 for the Noni juice per month. Then with great pride, she announced to the group: “But Kim, this past year they’ve worked to change it - because I think they heard you. As of May 1, 2006, they are paying 20% for customer orders. So now we get $24 for each of those orders!” That’s what, 3 days ago? After almost 10 years of being in business.
Source: FSA Regulation (EC) 258/97 makes provision for novel foods or ingredients that are substantially equivalent to an existing product to be placed on the market once the applicant has informed the European Commission. In all cases to date, the Commission has required that the applicant first obtain an opinion on equivalence from a Member State, in this case, the UK.
On the Noni worldwidewarning site you will often find references to other products that are sold via similar means and fraudulent claims. Since not all products and companies are the same –even though it sure all shares more similarities than differences– we would like to bring to your attention two new sister sites that will focus more on these other products, namely, Goji Juice and Xango.
“I am also worried about what the makeup of Hiro products (marketed under the name taHiro outside of the US) have in them, ie.: Silicon Dioxide (anticaking, only in the Energy), Sucralose (Splenda) and Acesulfame Potassium (to increase sweetness)”. “I worry that our leaders who always have made us believe that the products that TNI has for us to share would be natural and not harmful to anyone, human or animal are jeaprodizing the company’s integrity buy using questionable ingredients in the Hiro products; Splenda (bad as it is for us) should be enough without adding acesulfame potassium. If anyone hasn’t checked these ingredients out you certainly should”. “I was really excited about this new product till I was clued into the last three ingredients of Hiro and how health problems could (you notice I said could) arise in the future. Acesulfame potassium “could” cause tumors among other things. If anyone out there has not checked the labels and what the ingredients are and have availablity of the internet they most certainly should”. by Judith Reinholt (TNI IPC #1169726)
Over the past several months we’ve been receiving e-mail from TNI IPC’s (Independent Product Consultants, is what TNI calls their dealers and distributors in the pyramid scheme, over which they have little or no control). The dealers claim that TNI has lied to them. However, these lies are not about the claimed miracle healing powers but rather about the financial aspects. Needless to say we’re not at all surprised about that. Telling a lie and not telling the whole truth are two completely different things when it comes to MLM based companies like TNI. And, as usual, a lot of dealers only start making noises if their income is at stake, as opposed to anything else. The dealers who have written to us claim that TNI has been telling them all along that “we will always cut you in and will never cut you out” when it comes to the recruitment of new victims (new IPC’s, that is). The process as the dealers claim is that people who become a dealer will be assigned a random IPC in the pyramid, based on the IPC account number. However, as it turns out, people can also directly buy retail from TNI and also be a so called “Rewards Member” while doing your monthly ordering of Noni Juice. The most recent information that has reached us is from another dealer who claims that someone at customer services at TNI has now admitted that if someone signs up without referring to their upline IPC account number, that the company then keeps that for themselves. This of course not being what TNI has always told their dealers and which is making them angry and threatening to depart from the pyramid scheme. The anger is mostly because dealers are not making the money that TNI has always told them they would make with these random IPC assignments. The Noni Watch Team is not at all surprised about any of this. It’s just another scam in the bigger scheme, or scam, of things.
What does TNI dealer Jeremiah Charles (MLM “synergizer” and a bartender and manager of a restaurant in St. Petersburg, Florida) think about other dealers who raise concerns regarding the products they sell, in particular the use of higly controversial ingredients in TNI’s latest product; the HIRO energy drinks? From his own words it is cear that criticism within the dealer network(s) is to be kept inside the network and never to be mentioned outside of the network, as Mr. Charles puts it; “What I said and repeat is that these comments are to be brought upline. They are not to be spread around a forum such as this. This is just negative idle talk that does nothing but spread like cancer. It only takes one negative person to disrupt the positive vibes of a team.” This also illustrates the nature of criticism inside the pyramid structure where it is automatically labeled as “negative talk”. Of course, judging the other things Mr. Charles says, the negative talk is only negative because it might impact the bottom line, which according to Jeremiah is; making money and being blind loyal followers of whoever is at the top of the pyramid. Only loyalty counts and blind it must be, or as Mr. Charles puts it; “We are in Network Marketing. Our job is to pick a company we can stand behind and work our business. It is not to nit pick every ingredient that our founders deem appropriate to add to a product.” As a TNI IPC, Mr. Charles does not stand behind the medical or health claims of the products or those made by other dealers (but will probably accept them to be spread if it makes him more money) and correctly recognizes that; “We are not food scientists nor are we experts in the medical professions”, according to Mr. Charles. So what does this mean for the health claims made by other dealers? He has a very clear view on that as well, as he writes; “It has occurred to be that there are a lot of people out there who truly do not understand the business we are in. Many think they are in the juice business. We are in Network Marketing. It is our job to build networks of people as a channel of distribution to move the goods and services of our company through“, and to top that off, “There are a great many people out there that are still trying to save the world by baptizing everyone in this juice. Guys, if you are doing that, you are missing the boat, big time”, according to Jeremiah Charles. His advice regarding TNI and the pyramid scheme is simple and does not involve testimonials and health claims or anything else, it’s very basic and really shows that it is all about; “Build a huge organization and do it as quickly as possible. By doing so, you will move these valuable products en mass by default. Does that make sense? This compensation plan DOES NOT WORK if your people are not using the products”, which shows that you need to get people to use the products and it seems one way of getting people to use the products, be it Tahitian Noni Juice, HIRO (marketed under the name taHiro outside of the US), Goji, Xango, Herbalife, or any other fake miracle in a jar, is to do whatever it takes to get people to use it. In order to… make money! Be careful if you ever get to deal with this Mr. Jeremiah Charles, though. Before you know it your might end up donating all your other non-MLM products somewhere, or as Mr. Charles does with people he recruits into his little money making scheme in the larger pyramid is; “One of the first things I do with new people after about a month, is go over the catalog with them and bring a big shopping bag over to place all the old stuff they used to buy from a store into so they have room for their Tahitian Noni products. They can donate their old stuff to a shelter or throw them away”. The other thing Mr. Charles has identified properly is that these miracle products such as Tahitian Noni Juice only work as long as people are willing to use them and BELIEVE in them. There is nothing more harmful to a belief than having that belief weighed, measured, and examined in detail. Raising questions or any sign of criticism (also called “negativity” in those tight MLM communities) might affect others who could for the very first time be using their heads for a change and perhaps think about the questions that get raised. And that could lead to a breakdown of certain false beliefs. As Mr. Charles puts it, “Just remember to stay positive around others on your team and downline and to take upline any negativity. If not, you are on a sure path to destroy your organization by zapping the life and positive energy right out of people. In a sense, an emotional vampire. You can effect others’ teams to in a viral setting line this online forum as well”. The short version of Mr. Jeremiah “smells like money” Charles’ story is that health is irrelevant, using the products is important, selling them and recruiting new people is even more important, and blind loyalty is demanded. Critical thinking and thinking for yourself appears to be a bad thing and in the end the bottom line is that IT IS ALL ABOUT THE MONEY AND ONLY THE MONEY. And that’s exactly what our site has been saying all along. Thanks Jeremiah, for this refreshing honesty. We had almost lost hope for TNI IPC’s and dealers but it seems you truly are an honest one. Now if only we could say the same thing about HOW these products are sold.
Tahitian Noni International IPC’s (independent product consultants, which is what they call the people who get recruited into the MLM pyramid) are voicing concerns over the use of Sucralose in the HIRO energy drinks. Eva Denes, an IPC from Spain wrote “Not only contains sucralose but also Acesulfame-K. If it had Stevia instead, I’d go all over the place promoting it. As a nutricionist I cannot recommend it with good conscience“. Nate Hicks, another Noni distributor first wrote, “I am fired up about HIRO and i’m just as much in the dark as you all are. I have heard on one conf call that we need to RECRUIT, RECRUIT, RECRUIT….This will help our teams explode when HIRO is launched”. And then a few days later wanted to get some “ducks in a row” regarding the ingredients of HIRO while asking; “If this is an all natural drink then how come it has sucralose in it which is an artifical sweetener…Don’t take this the wrong way at all, i just want all of us to have our ducks in a row first because we all know that the true health nuts out there will be all over this so we just need to be ready for it…any ideas???” Coinciding with the introduction of the HIRO health drinks (marketed under the name taHiro outside of the US) it is known that the companies behind Splenda have been buying hundreds of domain names with implied negative and dangerous sounding words, such as splendakills.com, victimsofsplenda.com, splendatoxicity.com. Which shows the manufacturers of Sucralose/Splenda expect some kind of consumer backlash over the chemical compound and wish to pre-empt any of those domains from falling into the hands of consumer advocates and support groups. Alan Clough, another TNI has been so kind as to publish his thoughts: I had a chance to taste all 3 Hiros last night. I was not impressed. Sweet lightly carbonated taste with a chemical after taste. Some of them have a background vitamin taste. I am very disappointed that this company has decided to use two controversial poorly tested artificial sweeteners . These sweeteners could be harmful to people health! Why they could not use a “Sugar in the raw brown sugar” from Hawaii or honey is beyond me. I assume it was to keep the calories lower but these substitutes could threaten our health ! Is a bad trade off. I hate to rain on this $$ parade but I cannot as they are now formulated buy or offer my friends family these questionable products. This glossy launch of a noni based power drink product that is supposed to be a healthier alternative to these other power drinks could all bite us in the lower extremities as folks have health issues and law suites start flying. I sent a Email to Kelly Olsen asking him why they have come out with these products with these potential health problems that could affect IPCS and their customers that they say they love? Sorry this smacks of a run for the $ with a flawed product.
NONI juice (Morinda citrifolia) is an increasingly popular wellness drink claimed to be beneficial for many illnesses. No overt toxicity has been reported to date. We present two cases of novel hepatotoxicity of NONI juice. Causality of liver injury by NONI juice was asses-sed. Routine laboratory tests and transjugular or percutaneous liver biopsy were performed. The first patient underwent successful liver transplantation while the second patient recovered spontaneously after cessation of NONI juice. A 29-year-old man with previous toxic hepatitis associated with small doses of paracetamol developed sub-acute hepatic failure following consumption of 1.5 L NONI juice over 3 wk necessitating urgent liver transplantation. A 62-year-old woman without evidence of previous liver disease developed an episode of self-limited acute hepatitis following consumption of 2 L NONI juice for over 3 mo. The most likely hepatotoxic components of Morinda citrifolia were anthraquinones. Physicians should be aware of potential hepatotoxicity of NONI juice.
Before the end of the month you will see the launch of three new TNI products HIRO™ Energy, HIRO ™ Vitality, and HIRO ™ Mobility. These are beverages that are meant to compete for your dollars with all the other overpriced so-called energy drinks. It is claimed that the HIRO (marketed under the name taHiro outside of the US) beverages are supposed to be healthy for you. But how healthy can a beverage be when it contains SUCRALOSE, also known under the brand name SPLENDA. TNI’s Noni HIRO health drink ingredients list says “The HIRO™ line is sweetened with sucralose“ and “As with all health supplements, we suggest that you consult your physician about the ingredients.” And before you or while you consult with your physician, here’s some info on the deadly chemical composition of Splenda, some of the following are known to cause cancer in animals, some are even listed by the EPA as POISONS: Acetone, Acetic acid, Acetyl alcohol, Acetic anhydride, Ammonium chloride, Benzene, Chlorinated sulfates, Ethyl alcohol, Isobutyl ketones, Formaldehyde, Hydrogen chloride, Lithium chloride, Methanol, Sodium methoxide, Sulfuryl chloride, Trityl chloride, Thionyl chloride, Toulene. It is not the first time TNI uses sucralose/Splenda in their products as you can read in this article. And you can read here what TNI’s own IPC’s and distributors have to say about sucralose;
Of course, as usual, most of the noni distributors will gladly try and make some money with HIRO regardless of what they themselves might feel about the use of sucralose in the products. After all, they don’t want “corporate America” to get your dollars if they can get at it themselves, instead. For more information on Splenda, visit:
If it wasn’t enough to put the chemical sweetener Sucralose into the HIRO energy drink, TNI has also added Acesulfame K (also known as Acesulfame Potassium or Ace K, or E950) into the mix. This is another artificial sweetener marketed under the names Sunett and Sweet One. Like Splenda and Aspartame, this is a controversial sweetener. Eva Denes, a TNI distributor from Spain wrote “Not only contains sucralose but also Acesulfame-K.” and “As a nutricionist I cannot recommend it with good conscience“. Janet Star Hull wrote that “Acesulfame K apparently produced lung tumors, breast tumors, rare types of tumors of other organs (such as the thymus gland), several forms of leukemia and chronic respiratory disease in several rodent studies, even when less than maximum doses were given.” And you can find a lot more of such critical information about Ace K on the internet, medical publications, studies, everywhere. What is TNI attempting to accomplish with HIRO (marketed under the name taHiro outside of the US), for a company that claims to be on the cutting edge of health supplements? Hoping that many people will buy and consume the HIRO beverage and develop side effects, disease, or illness so that in the second stage of this process the TNI distributors can start recommending Noni Juice as a cure-all?
Highly recommended is BELIEVE, the Movie. This movie is a hillarious comedy twist on MLM, Network Marketing, and all the aspects of the almost blind product-related-religious-belief that is required to deal with network marketing. Many of which we have warned you about on this website are portrayed in a funny and sarcastic way. check out the website, see the movie!
Not to long ago we pointed out that TNI was using the Splenda artificial sweetener, known for its poisonous components, in some of their products. A reader pointed out a place where Noni distributors in the TNI network marketing arena hang out and what they had to say about Splenda. One Noni distributor said the following; “I KNEW THERE HAD TO BE SOMETHING WRONG WITH THIS STUFF. I used Splenda for about 2 weeks, and I was having MIGRAINES like I never have before. I was also having a lot of back pain, and passed a kidney stone! I have started using HONEY, and if that is not available, I use PURE XYLITOL, since it is all natural. I AM NOT A LAB RAT! DON’T MAKE YOURSELF A VICTIM OF CORPORATE AMERICA by buying into their hype. All they want is your MONEY and don’t give two licks about your health or well-being. BE HEALTHY AND LIVE LONG! And Drink NONI every day! This stuff is MIRACULOUS!” Aparantly the other distriburors and strong believers in the Tahitian Noni Juice have no good words to say about Splenda. But, as always, these people will defend TNI and the Noni Juice as if it’s their firstborn being attacked by hungry wolves. I wonder how they would feel if they actually realised their beloved company is using Splenda, especially in the case of the above individual who does not wish “to be a victim of corporate america”. Evidently he already is, but doesn’t realize it yet.
On Saturday the 25th of Feb, 2007, Dr. Williams (the one who has taken the spot of Neil Solomon after he fell out of grace with TNI) will be in NY to “help” medical professionals and IPC’s in telling them how his regiment of Noni Juice and spasm release (the spasm one gets after discovering the pyramid structure network marketing sales strategies they need to get involved with in order to pay for their noni?) is claimed able to help several specific conditions. We wonder if Dr. Williams will be making any off-limits medical claims in relation to Noni Juice and we’ll have a full report after the event on that. According to the literature put out to promote this event, Dr. Williams presents this as a way for the body to “heal itself”. It is clear that the goal of all this is to try and sell as much Noni Juice as possible to workers and people in NYC who have been affected by the “WTC Cough” and other respiratory problems. Have these people no shame? Aparantly not. This, of course, is the same Dr. Richard Williams that recently put out one of his special giberish reports called “What would you do if you or someone you know are worried abotu the Asian bird flu (H5N1)”, in which, you guessed it, Dr. Williams comes up with a recommendation on servings of Tahitian Noni Juice as “nutricional supplementation”. Well, folks, if you’re scared of aliens from Mars invading our planet, drink noni juice. If you or someone you know are worried about pink elephants raining down from the skies, drink noni juice. That seems to be the “Williams Mantra”.
HIRO, another so called “business opportunity of the centry”, just like all the previous ones. Are there going to be actual medical cures associated with this? If it’s up to those with a financial interest in the beverage, you can say it’s a safe bet there will be. According to Kelly Olsen; “ILC will mark the focused launch of HIRO, a new Tahitian Noni based beverage that will set the place on fire. We are putting our entire marketing muscle behind this launch. You will begin to receive regular HIRO updates, teasers and information leading up to ILC, but let me assure you, you will be proud of this product. It has all the best characteristics of a winner: It is positioned in the fastest growing segment of the beverage market, it is the most unique and differentiated product in this segment, it is the ultimate consumable product that everyone, every age, every condition can drink and benefit from. This product is going to generate volume!” The target for HIRO (marketed under the name taHiro outside of the US) is the “energy drink” Red Bull and will be “launched” at March 13th in Las Vegas. But what Kelly Olsen has failed to mention is that HIRO, in Tahitian mythical lore… IS A THIEF. Well, in that case the name is probably well chosen. In a recent conference call, distributors in the TNI pyramid have been called upon to recruit, recruit, recruit, and recruit some more in order to help launch HIRO. HIRO will come in three styles, Energy, Mobility and Vitality. I wonder why there isn’t a fourth version called Scam. No doubt the marketing will probably be along the lines of “action hero” and “action hiro” but so far distributors are talking about a can of the stuff going for between $2 and $4 each and will come in trays of 24 cans per tray. See Also:
Source: Switchblade Doctor “TNI’s “medical experts,” too, tend to be alternative health practitioners with questionable educational backgrounds (i.e., “naturopathy doctorates,” chiropractic degrees, etc.; folks, these are not legitimate credentials!) or medical doctors with controversial pasts. For example, until recently, TNI’s primary medical spokeperson was Neil Solomon, a once well-respected internist, trained at Johns Hopkins, who took up the Noni Juice cause only after relinquishing his medical license in the wake of a $160 million sexual harassment lawsuit (Solomon admitted to having unethical sexual relationships with 8 female patients).”
A Brisbane food retailer got prosecuted and fined $16.000 by the Queensland Health Department for making illegal claims about noni juice. The retailer, through website advertising and brochures, claimed that his tropical gold noni juice was a life-saving elixir that could be used to treat cancer, stroke, and depression.
Eldon Pierce, a top managing director at Tahitian Noni has resigned because of frustrations and ethical conflicts at TNI. Kelly Olson got into an argument with another director over the massive layoffs. That argument got heated to the point at which security was called in to “assist”. Problems at TNI seem to continue at a rapid and exponential pace. Are these even more signs of impending collapse?
Source : Herald Extra Why has TNI and their army of snake-oil salesmen been claiming for several years that they would “own Xango” or would otherwise “spend millions to bury Xango”. Distributors of TNI must feel like they have egg on their face after beating their war drums while making bold statements about how TNI was going to destroy Xango. Then again, TNI distributors are known for making bold statements without substantiation.
Source : NIH.GOV Physical examination did not detect any abnormalities… He admitted that for ‘prophylactic reasons’ he had been drinking the juice of Noni (Morinda citrifolia). This gave rise to the suspicion of herbal toxicity, which was confirmed by a liver biopsy.”
Documented: Read all about how Tahitian Noni Internetional founder and management, Kerry and Kim Asay and John J. Wadsworth got involved in a ‘Ponzi’ scheme with a good $6 million on the line. Check out the Witness Statements outlining the flow of money with the MATHON Management Company, LLC (Arizona/Delaware). A big mess that no amount of Noni Juice can ‘cure’, or can it?
Source : Department of Justice The Notice is the prerequisite for the California Women’s Law Center to commence legal action to enforce the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enfocement Act of 1986 and on the belief that the violations outlined in the Notice occur in every county and city in California. The California Attorney General and the district attorney of every California county and the city attorney of every California city (with a population over 750.000) have also received this Notice. The Notice states that in the course of doing business, the Companies, knowingly and intentiolally have exposed, and continues to expose, individuals (especially woman) to the listed chemicals and that no clear and reasonable warning is or has been provided by the Companies to individuals regarding exposure to the listed chemicals or regarding the fact that these are known to the State of California to be a health risk. The state of California lists Progesterone, Medroxyprogesterone acetate, Testosterone and its esters as carcinogens (known to cause cancer) and lists Medroxyprogesterone acetate, Methyltestosterone, Testosterone cypionate and Testosterone enanthate, as reproductive toxins.
Neil Solomon, admitted in writing to unethical behavior: sexual abuse of patients. Unethical behavior, sexual misconduct, bankruptcy, said to be a paid speaker for TNI, and there are people who trust his expertise when it comes to Noni? Some do, most wouldn’t. It seems that Mr. Solomon’s most recent e-mail implies that TNI (Tahitian Noni International) is trying to disassociate themselves from Mr. Neil Solomon.
Very often we run into evidence that links Mormons and the business practices of Multi Level Marketing, a.k.a. pyramid schemes, to the sales and marketing of Noni Juice using a tightly knit network of people who are skilled in the art of “networking”. We have listed a few articles and various public discussions on the subject. Overall we think it serves as a basis for dealers who treat their Noni sales as if it was a religion, along with all the fanaticism that unfortunately is often associated with the mixing of religion and money.
A reader in Germany informed us of the following; Aloha News Europe found in research for the World Expo 2000 in Hannover, Germany, that all claims that Noni was a drink in ancient Polynesia are not true. Natives told ANE, that the ancient ones until today used noni juice only outward of the body on the skin to help with burns to relief. Wounds would heal much faster and prevent scars. Nobody would drink it. The price per liter (about 1 quart of a gallon) in Polynesia was offered at that time from native farmers who just started to grow Noni to meet white mans desires with 30 Pfennigs (0,30 Deustsche Mark / equals 15 Cents US). Only one year later the price was increased to 6 DM / 3 US$. All Noni Products offered at the Pacific Hall 22 on the EXPO fair grounds, from Samoa and Vanuatu islands were conficated by the police, and had to leave Europe with the end of the EXPO. Beside juice there were offered Noni Sweets and Noni Dagree, a half months supply was retail 12 DM / 6 US$. At that time Noni was illegal to import to Germany and juices tested in Hamburg and Wuerzburg state healthauthority laboratories found even Rubiadins in one brand from USA, which causes cancer, due to the use of the roots and leaves of the noni plant.
Source : US Courts
This web site (in Dutch, regarding fraud) contains a section on Noni Juice which contains the following (translated) description: “Noni is a tropical fruit. There are only testimonial claims regarding this substance. The testimonial claims regarding Noni are with regard to its benefits against MS, cancer, HIV, and cut off fingers. According to someone’s testimony a HIV patient had used it for 15 days and saw an increase of 90 CD4 cells. This can also occur if you do not use Noni. What has happened further to this HIV positive patient is committed from the story. Another testimonial is completely unbelievable; a man with AIDS and a nasty opportunistic infection, was on the edge of death. He started using Noni, nurtured himself back to health and has since a normal CD4-count and a normal viral load (sic). If this had really happened than the doctor in charge of this patient would have had the moral duty to report these findings for scientific publication. Because a substance is being used for centuries is very interesting but says nothing about the product. The fact that Noni is a natural substance and has been used for centuries in Asia and Polynesia does, therefore, not provide any information regarding the role it could play during treatment of HIV infection, if it even could have any role at all.” (original text by Kees Rumke)
The site www.cancerpage.com presents an article by Chris Thomas which highlights the US Food and Drug Administration’s warning letter to a company selling Noni Juice in the context of various testimonials. This excellent article also highlights that Noni has NOT been PROVEN to be effective or safe, or even helpful. It is no surprise that the FDA is concerned about such wild claims. The article also describes a test done at the National Cancer Institute and the lack of scientific evidence of the claims made by those financially involved in the business of selling and marketing Noni Juice and Noni Capsules. This article also mentions that Morinda Inc. (Tahitian Noni International) has claimed to have paid out over $745,680,000 to distributors in the company’s first five-and-a-half years. It is clear that with such financial benefits the distributors will find ways to sell the substance, regardless of the amount of unsubstantiated claims that they will need to make to achieve high volume sales figures.
Xango is a curiousity to me. I live in Thailand, and I love to eat the mangosteen fruit. However, the Xango literature I’ve seen suggests Thai people use mangosteen to cure a host of ills. Yet no Thai I’ve asked to date is aware of mangosteen being any more healthy than any other of their “exotic” fruit!
An FTC proposed rule would apply to companies that sell their products through “distributors” or “consultants” that pay to be enrolled as a reseller or a company that offers individuals business assistance. In short, they apply to all companies offering franchise opportunities, vendor machine businesses, and other home-based businesses. The proposed rule has five required disclosures that must be made in writing at least seven days in advance of the individual’s agreement to enroll as a distributor. This, in essence, creates a “seven-day waiting period” for anyone attempting to sign up a distributor. Included in the proposed rule is a Business Opportunity Disclosures form that would be required. Many Noni snake-oil salesmen are up in arms about this because they make most of their money by signing up new distributors and it would not be a welcome change if those people they sign up get a chance to THINK about it during a short waiting period.
Source : ABC News
Source : FDA
Source : Australia
Source : Caremark
Noni: A patent for cleaning grease traps and sewer lines! A reader recently pointed out to us the cold hard facts regarding the patent that was granted to Dr. Heincke for Noni. Thanks for the heads up Allen. As Morinda/TNI will proudly tell its distributors, and likewise proud distributors will tell unaware but potential customers and new distributors, there are patents involved with Noni! Using such statements they imply that something must be good and special about Noni. But only if you read the actual patent will you discover that this patent pertains to a “A method is disclosed for eliminating grease, sewage odor and hydrogen sulfide from restaurant grease traps and municipal sewage systems using xeronine. Xeronine works by stimulating the metabolism of the resident anaerobic and aerobic bacteria.”. We could joke about how the vile smell of Noni easily out-stinks sewage, but we won’t. We do, however, feel that patent 4,666,606 shows that drinkers of Noni Juice should not confuse themselves with sewers. Our advise would be to pour Noni Juice down the drain… in case things are clogged, of course. |
