Hoodiawinked

Here"s a little fact that"s good for a laugh. A popular herbal supplement for weight loss, commonly referred to as Hoodia, is made from a rare cactus that grows in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa.

Given the known mass of Hoodia gordonii plants in South Africa, and the known listed quantities of plant extract on all the products available on pharmacy and health food store shelves, there is apparently more Hoodia floating around in dietary supplements than there is in South Africa.

I"ll say that again. If the labels on these supplements are totally accurate, there is a great deal more Hoodia crammed into capsules than there is growing in the Kalahari. Where did it come from? Are the supplement companies growing Hoodia cacti in farms somewhere?

(Hint: It"s a lot more likely that they"re lying on the labels.)