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.
Thoughts anyone?

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;

“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.”

and…

The evidence that all of these sweeteners are poison is overwhelming, but they operate within “legal” limits, and make a killing on the diet market.

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:

• splenda.worldwidewarning.net
• Splenda makers on trial for misleading advertising claims!
• Dietitians Say Splenda Is Not the Same as Sugar
• Splenda is not Splendid
• Neotame and Splenda
• Free Speech: Splenda Manufacturer Silences Critics

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?