Xocai – Healthy Chocolate

"Buy 1 for yourself and get the chance to sell your friends and family 5 and get your downline started!" We examine the multi-level marketing industry, where only the people who come up with the ideas make any money, and everybody else is left unhappy, broke, and tired of reading scripts and selling overpriced vitamins and similarly worthless products. Includes Global Prosperity, Pinnacle Quest International, IRS Codebusters, Stratia, and other new Global Prosperity scams.

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doggone

Xocai – Healthy Chocolate

Post by doggone »

My wife has gotten involved in a MLM company Xocai – Healthy Chocolate.

I am not happy

I want to know all I can about this company and their product.

I find it very hard to get "good" solid information.

If anyone can point me in the right direction I would be most grateful
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Re: Xocai – Healthy Chocolate

Post by Doktor Avalanche »

Healthy chocolate?

WTF?!?

What's the point in healthy chocolate? Seriously...it defeats the whole purpose of chocolate in the first place.
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Re: Xocai – Healthy Chocolate

Post by VinnyZ »

It seems to be a typical MLM with a greatly overpriced product. Comparable products can probably be purchased for 1/4 of the price.

Here is a thread on Scam.com:

http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=43 ... ight=xocai

Here is a unflattering page on the founder:

http://mlmnightmares.com/
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Re: Xocai – Healthy Chocolate

Post by Number Six »

Doktor Avalanche wrote:Healthy chocolate?

WTF?!?

What's the point in healthy chocolate? Seriously...it defeats the whole purpose of chocolate in the first place.
Didn't you hear? It has powerful antioxidents, and like coffee, is the new health food.
'There are two kinds of injustice: the first is found in those who do an injury, the second in those who fail to protect another from injury when they can.' (Roman. Cicero, De Off. I. vii)

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doggone

Re: Xocai – Healthy Chocolate

Post by doggone »

Thanks so much for the info ...especially for the info on the people who run the company
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Re: Xocai – Healthy Chocolate

Post by Number Six »

The bottom line, doggone, is that it is just another MLM scam that makes friends who get into the scheme run, not walk the other way next time they here of another opportunity from you. My guess is that the raw materials of this product cost less than $5 a pound. Cynicism and anger is a natural response to being ripped-off or used. Some call it sales resistance, but opposition to those pushing a product comes back to haunt the promoters. This product targets those looking for the supposed health benefits of Acai and organic cocoa--both mysterious wellness products from the Amazon jungle. Golly, why don't the pending health care plans offer subsidies for these products? If everyone would just be required to get their daily doses of Super blue-green algae, CoQ10, Kava Kava, Mangostean, Wolfberry, green tea extract, pine bark extract, and brewer's yeast extract, sea water extract etc., we would all be so much healthier. And when you do it through an MLM, you have all these people in your network who you are constantly communicating with on how much better they must be feeling on your product. And be sure to join our Facebook or Myspace interactive media events! Plus there are all these free products you get--gotta love those recipes for cooking with Xocai, the Xocai animal mascot, Xocai kitchen magnets and decals, and bumper stickers! And be sure to give out some of our free samples of Xocai to the neighborhood kids--a heck of a lot better for them than girl scout cookies, plus no hydrogenated oils, carcinogens, free radicals, or allergens.
'There are two kinds of injustice: the first is found in those who do an injury, the second in those who fail to protect another from injury when they can.' (Roman. Cicero, De Off. I. vii)

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doggone

Re: Xocai – Healthy Chocolate

Post by doggone »

I have been digging away looking for more info. This site has some good info on Xocai and other schemes etc in England


http://www.businessopportunitywatch.com ... siness.htm
doggone

Re: Xocai – Healthy Chocolate

Post by doggone »

I never thought I would be in this position. My wife is very involved in this stupid chocolate mlm and has been for over a year. Its driving me nuts.From the beginning I told her I thought this was a bad idea.....but I agreed to leave her alone for the first year....when that year came and went and she was still "committed" to this I began to do a whole new round of research (It led me here)

All the research has done for me is to confirm my belief that this is a scam. The originators of the company have a terrible track record. I really thought my wife was smarter than this. She has a masters degree.

The psychology of mlm is very hard for me to understand. I am so far on the outside of this group they really look dangerous.But it must fill a need that my wife has....It has something to do with all this "positive energy" crap people are always spouting. I evidently do not have enough positive energy.Is greed at the bottom of all this? Is it really that powerful? It is a form of "magical thinking" and the leaders are able to foster it and manipulate people.

While I do not think positveism is inherently bad ...something is twisted by these mlm people. Common sense is thrown out the window.

I have given my wife all of the thoughtful analysis I have run across on the internet but she seems to be able to deny its relevance. All the stories I have come across have a similar thread and the certainty of disaster seems to loom on the horizon. There is also a moral component that worries me. My own sense of ethics would not allow me to be involved in anything that is shady or possibly shady ...yet my wife seems to have no qualms.

This really does seem like a cult.

Any advice people have on coping with all this is greatly appreciated
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Re: Xocai – Healthy Chocolate

Post by wserra »

doggone wrote:This really does seem like a cult.
If your wife has not seen the Dateline video or read the accompanying story on Quixtar (Amway), she should. If she is sufficiently in the cream cheese, she will just write it off as a different company. But Amway is the granddaddy of all MLMs, and all are irrational in the same way.

The "industry" is definitely cult-like. Were it not for the cult mentality, no one would believe the basic premise - that you can get rich working from home for a few hours a week. And the 95 percent that can't even cover their expenses - well, I'm different.
"A wise man proportions belief to the evidence."
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Re: Xocai – Healthy Chocolate

Post by Thule »

doggone wrote: The psychology of mlm is very hard for me to understand. I am so far on the outside of this group they really look dangerous.But it must fill a need that my wife has....It has something to do with all this "positive energy" crap people are always spouting. I evidently do not have enough positive energy.Is greed at the bottom of all this? Is it really that powerful? It is a form of "magical thinking" and the leaders are able to foster it and manipulate people.
Greed is certainly a part of it.But there's also something called the "sunk cost fallacy". See, humans are apparently wired to never give up an investment. This means that if we have spent a certain amount of resources on a bad scheme, we are likely to spend more money on the same scheme instead of recognizing that it is a bad idea. This fallacy is so common that it is most likely a biological feature from the good old days when we wrestled hyenas over mammoth carcasses and Raquel Welsh wore a fur bikini. Or it might even be linked to the parental instinct, after all we do invest a lot in those seemingly useless critters.

Anyway, this is part of the mechanism that makes it hard for people to leave the slotmachine after losing big, walking away would feel like abandoning the money you have sunk into the machine. This is also the fallacy that makes people use thousands a year to keep a POS §4000 car running. I'm fairly certain most of us at some point have thought "Well, it's really not worth it. But I've already spent so much fixing that car, I might as well spend another §500."

As long as we're in the game, we really don't see the money we've spent as "lost". But when we leave the game/sell the car/drop out of the MLM we are forced to realize that the money we have spent is lost forever, and that is not alway easy to face.

Now, you have my deepest sympathy, but I'll have to be a bit harsh. Leaving her alone for a year was really not a good idea. That year allowed her to invest time and money in the scheme, and the sunk cost fallacy comes into play. Getting off now means she will have to convince herself that the time and money spent is lost, and that is not easy.

Now, I am not some sort of deprogramming-guy, qualified to dig out the stupid from someone who is deep into MLM. But I have given advice to people who were just starting up. My advice to you would be the same as I gave to them. Get all costs out in the open. Ask her to keep track of what she spends, what she makes, and the time she invests. Do this, and you will at least be able to show her the bottomline.

Besides this, MLMs rely on concepts like groupthing, bandwagon effect and lots of other fancy words for saying that we want to belong to a group, we want that group to be special, and we don't want to get kicked out from the special group.
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doggone

Re: Xocai – Healthy Chocolate

Post by doggone »

Thanks to those who responded to my posts. I continue to forge ahead in trying to get my wife to open her eyes. In my own defense I want to state that during her first year in this "business" I did not totally keep my mouth shut. I am known to have angry fits at times and this mlm crap has certainly brought on a few.My latest endeavor is to uncover what if anything is true about "cold pressed" healthy chocolate .

That is the claim of these folks. "Cold Press" is supposedly a patented process which makes this chocolate more rich in nutrients.So far my limited googling abilities have only turned up the usual unsubstantiated claims by the mlm people. If it could be proved that this thing is BS or if no independent people have looked at "cold pressing" I think it might sway a few folks.
I also like to think someone in the government might also be interested if it can be shown these are false claims
I dont think there is a thing that distinguishes this chocolate or this companies products from any others..... except the packaging
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Re: Xocai – Healthy Chocolate

Post by Nikki »

doggone wrote: I dont think there is a thing that distinguishes this chocolate or this companies products from any others..... except the packaging
And the price
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Re: Xocai – Healthy Chocolate

Post by Lambkin »

doggone wrote:Thanks to those who responded to my posts. I continue to forge ahead in trying to get my wife to open her eyes. In my own defense I want to state that during her first year in this "business" I did not totally keep my mouth shut. I am known to have angry fits at times and this mlm crap has certainly brought on a few.My latest endeavor is to uncover what if anything is true about "cold pressed" healthy chocolate .
Forgive me for suggesting that angry fits are at least as damaging to a marriage as MLMs.
That is the claim of these folks. "Cold Press" is supposedly a patented process which makes this chocolate more rich in nutrients.So far my limited googling abilities have only turned up the usual unsubstantiated claims by the mlm people.
Ask for the patent number and read the patent. Patents are public information. The whole point of patents is to protect methods that are known to the public, ie, they are not trade secrets. If you can find out the patent number, there are a variety of online patent databases where you should be able to read the patent information. If it appears to be a hoax or if you can find prior art for the patented process, you can contact the US Patent Office and let them know. (Don't expect them to respond promptly to anything, even egregious violations can persist for years.)
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Re: Xocai – Healthy Chocolate

Post by wserra »

doggone wrote:That is the claim of these folks. "Cold Press" is supposedly a patented process which makes this chocolate more rich in nutrients.
Specifically, the claim appears to be that "The MXI corporation has invented a patented "Cold Press Process"". A search of the USPTO database for "MXI" and "cold press" turns up nothing. Another version refers to "Xoçai's patented Cold Press Technology"; a search of "Xocai" and "cold press" turns up nothing. While a search of "cold press" and "chocolate" does turn up hits, none claim that the process enriches chocolate, and it would be difficult to see how it could do so without additives. The most that could be claimed is that the process doesn't degrade chocolate.

Whoopee. Neither does Hershey's. And there are lots of natural antioxidants available that are much better for you than chocolate, and much cheaper than Xocai.

As occurs frequently, an MLM throws out pseudo-scientific gobbledygook and claims it makes its very expensive stuff somehow special. It doesn't.
I dont think there is a thing that distinguishes this chocolate or this companies products from any others..... except the packaging
And the price. A box of Xocai "Nuggets" contains 100 pieces at 12 g/piece, or 1200 g of chocolate. Xocai's own site doesn't tell you the cost - always a bad sign - but one discounter lists it for $125, or about .10/g, and claims that this is a significant discount. Godiva solid chocolate - for my money, the best readily available - is $70 for a 2 lb 4 oz (36 oz or about 1020 g) box; that works out to .067/g. Xocai costs 50% more than Godiva.

No thanks.
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Re: Xocai – Healthy Chocolate

Post by Number Six »

The raw materials are available to the public for less than $20 a pound, if averaged, presumably not troy weight....

http://tinyurl.com/ybjxl9q

http://tinyurl.com/ya7fq7l


If you need organic chocolate, get the dark stuff at a health food store or Trader Joe's. Acai is available there, too. Take it with B complex and niacin on an empty stomach and wait for the powerful rush!

I can't wait until organic marijuana is available. The marketers are going to go wild with various "buds" and combinations with other "health" foods.
'There are two kinds of injustice: the first is found in those who do an injury, the second in those who fail to protect another from injury when they can.' (Roman. Cicero, De Off. I. vii)

'Choose loss rather than shameful gains.' (Chilon Fr. 10. Diels)
doggone

Re: Xocai – Healthy Chocolate

Post by doggone »

Here is what I got in the way of an official reply from Xocai on their cold press patent:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sent: Mon, Apr 12, 2010 10:41 am
Subject: Re: patent number

The information is considered proprietary and we will not be able to give out information on our supplier or manufacturers.


Thanks,

Research Dept.
MXI Corp

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sent: Mon, Apr 12, 2010 10:59 am
Subject: Re: patent number

At this time, the only information available to associates would be on our corp site. We stand behind our process, products and finally the end result of our products. We are confident that we have the best product on the market and the independent tests back MXI up.

http://www.mxicorp.com/csr/

http://www.mxicorp.com/support/product.html

http://www.mxicorp.com/thewholestory/

Thanks,

Research Dept.
MXI Corp
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Re: Xocai – Healthy Chocolate

Post by wserra »

doggone wrote:Sent: Mon, Apr 12, 2010 10:41 am
Subject: Re: patent number

The information is considered proprietary and we will not be able to give out information on our supplier or manufacturers.
Horseshit. A patent number isn't "proprietary". Legitimate companies with real patents publicize the number, in part to impress and in part to warn competitors not to infringe.
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doggone

Re: Xocai – Healthy Chocolate

Post by doggone »

My wife just went to some Xocai meeting where Steven E. Warren, MD, DPA was the guest lecturer. Dr Warren seems to be pretty active in Xocai.

Here is his bio info:

Dr. Warren has extensive experience in family medicine. He is board-certified in family medicine, as well as in hospice and palliative medicine. He is also a Fellow of the American Professional Wound Care Association and is involved in wound care research. He is the founder of the Foundation for Flavonoid Research. Dr. Warren is committed to improving quality of life through nutrition and fitness. He is currently the Medical Director of ten different nursing homes. Dr. Warren is married with seven children.

EDUCATION
B.A., University of Utah: Chemistry, magna cum laude
M.S., University of Utah: Health Education, Public Health, Community Medicine
Finished coursework for a M.S. in Exercise Physiology
D.P.A., George Washington University: Health Care Policy Analysis and Administration
M.D. George Washington University
Internship and Residency, University of Utah: Preventive Medicine and Nutrition Boards
American Board of Family Practice
American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
Fellow of the American Academy of Family Practice
Fellow of the American Academy of Wound Care Professionals
WORK EXPERIENCE
Consultant for DHEW (Department of Health, Education, and Welfare) Health Resource
Administration Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Legislation
Private Practice: National Health Corp
Internal Medicine, Obstetrics, Surgery
Wasatch Family Medicine Holy Cross/ HCA family practice
Medical Clinic family practice
Medical Director of 10 different Nursing Homes and a Hospice Group
Full-time Geriatrics in Nursing Homes, Home Visits for Hospice patients
Board of Trustees: Utah Medical Association
MEMBERSHIPS/HONORS
American Medical Directors Association (AMDA)
Phi Kappa Phi
Phi Beta Kappa
Pi Alpha Alpha (Honors Public Administration Society)
Outstanding NHSC Rural Physician
Featured in 3 PBS specials:
CODE Blue Frontier Medicine 1992
The Atomic Stampede 1994
The Journey Home—Hospice Story 2001
LECTURES
Sports Nutrition
Hospice
Pain Management
Symptom Management
Wound Care
Nutrition at the End of Life
OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS
Co-creator: AgingWell nutritional supplement
High-protein, low-carb, low-fat supplement initially developed for the aging patient
Medical Director: Retro Tech Blue Wound Care
President: Foundation for Flavonoid Research
Contributor: Life Made Simple 2006
National gardening, health, fitness, decorating, and family TV show hosted by Shellie Warren

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Perhaps his 7 children are keeping him busy in the chocolate racket.
Once again ,the more info the better.
I truly appreciate peoples feedback.
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Re: Xocai – Healthy Chocolate

Post by Demosthenes »

WARREN, Steven E., MD
Ogden, Utah

Respondent prescribed the medication Stadol to family members and he failed to maintain patient records. Respondent’s licenses to practice medicine and to prescribe and administer controlled substances were placed on probation for one year with conditions and restrictions.
March 11, 1999
Demo.
Mickey7

Re: Xocai – Healthy Chocolate

Post by Mickey7 »

I'm a little late to this discussion, but really appreciate the research done by others on this forum and wanted to alert you to a new misleading advertisement they have out about a diet shake product and 'clinical studies.' I have two middle-aged sisters hip deep in the Xocai cult and really don't know what to do about it. Over this past weekend, one of them sent me an internal memo sent to reps touting early results from a company-sponsored 'clinical study' on Xocai shakes. She knows I work in the medical field and evidently thought I would be swayed by this amazing clinical data. The company-sponsored trial cited (first indication that a study is bogus--real companies solicit independent researchers to perform their studies) in no way rises to the level of a clinical study. No 'studies' cited by MXI appear in any peer-reviewed medical journal--the basic requirement for legitimacy in clinical studies--although their reps consistently point out that this stuff is 'clinically proven.' The data are very sloppily cited (e.g. 'people report' instead of quantifiable datapoints) and not made available for review--another clear indication that this is a scam. This 'study' would be laughed out of first year nursing school, but Xocai reps, including my sisters, brag about the clinical evidence that prove Xocai works--which they sadly actually believe. While one would think he'd be ashamed to put his name to this garbage, Dr. Warren not only signs it, he makes claims that I know violate Federal Trade Commission and FDA rules. I thought about alerting the FTC, but their site does not allow anonymous complaints and I really do not want to get my sister into any trouble--she's an unfortunate starry-eyed dupe in all of this. After reading on this site that Jeanette Brooks has been in trouble with the FDA before (from a link to the BOW site--thanks), I feel all the more obligated to say something, but can't get around the need to identify myself in order to make a complaint and also to provide info on how I came to be in possession of the offending document. Besides the family chaos that would result (both sisters are using Xocai businesses as main sources of income, hoping to eventually--not doing so great right now--rake in the big bucks so I would be jeopardizing their family finances), I'm not really interested in being bombarded by spittle-flecked missives from all of the true believers in this crap that are out there--it really has a scary, cult-like feel to it. Here are excerpts from the email memo from Dr. Warren (just for a reality check the participants in this study are on a calorie restricted diet of 1200-1500 calories including the Xocai shakes, which would cause anyone to lose weight, so the Xocai shake weight loss miracle? Not so much.):

..."We are excited to report at the halfway point of this 12-week study the total weight loss of the 50 participants is nearly 1,000 pounds—half a ton! That’s a lot of extra weight no longer being carried around! The really exciting news is they are full of energy, have no muscle aches, no longer experience carbohydrate cravings, and feel better than they have ever felt. They are even having a hard time consuming the required daily calories because they feel full and have no hunger. Everyone is losing weight and abdominal inches without even feeling like they’re on a diet. When asked if they would stop the protein shakes, their response is they “could not live without it.” When they look over their previous dieting experiences and food intake, they realize why they were gaining and not losing weight. By recording and reporting their total daily calorie intake, they’ve had great success in controlling their calorie intake and remaining compliant with the weightloss protocol. The shakes provide the necessary proteins, fats, carbohydrates, fiber, and vitamin and minerals, which give the participants two nutrient-rich meals and helps them avoid the consumption of empty calories. To date, not a single participant has dropped out of the study, which is unheard of in clinical studies. The participants are ecstatic with the success they are experiencing..."

..."We have had reports of increased hair growth, smoother skin, decreased depression, and unbounded energy!..."

..."Chocolate is a miracle food and its benefits are numerous."

Mike Kennedy, M.D. Steven Warren MD DPA
Your partners in obtaining and maximizing your wellness dreams. [end]

I'm happy to provide the entire email, but it is pretty much more of the same fact-less propaganda masquerading as clinical data. Still trying to wrap my head around how people I always thought of as being reasonably intelligent could fall so thoroughly into this trap. Sigh.