Dear Editor,

In Sunday of July 29, 2001, John Warrington in his column "A Gardener's Diary" states as follows: "I have been interested to see advertisements in the media about a plant called noni (a South America aroid) and some of the claims made for its efficacy in treating some of our major ailments, not least of which is that it has been used for 2000 years. I'd be interested to learn the source of the evidence for all this."

I find it somehow difficult to take my fellow ex-New Guyana Marketing Corporation Director, Mr John Warrington's claims of interest seriously, since long before we launched Carib Noni, we published our booklet "Everything you always wanted to know about Noni". This booklet is still available at Austin's Book Service in Church Street and Nigel's Supermarket in Robb Street.

In addition, we at Carib Noni stuck to our guns and the names, addresses, and in some instances, photographs of person giving testimonials, have been published right here in Stabroek News. Other interested persons have taken the time to go and buy the booklet and or contact these persons directly.

The internet also has tons of information regarding Noni, its origin and uses etc.

Finally, I was just as incredulous as Mr Warrington is now, when I first learnt about Noni. I however, took the time to research the facts before launching my Company, Carib Noni Co.

Today, with thousands of people all over Guyana daily telling us how Noni has positively impacted on their lives, any lingering doubts about Noni's efficacy are long gone. Yet, as a duty to the public we urge you to be cautious - a new/old breed of producers is on the Noni market: Dripping the juice of the ripened fruit and bottling same. They do not call it "Raw" Noni - they call it "Pure Noni". The effects, however, are as raw as could be. For instance, there is at least one major pharmacy that thought it necessary to pull this impostor off his shelf after less than one month of sales. So be careful! Ask for Carib Noni by name.