FreeLife

FreeLife International is a multi-level marketing company established in 1995 by Ray Faltinsky that supplies health food supplements. FreeLife is best known for promoting Himalayan Goji Juice, made from goji berries.

Products
FreeLife’s product line initially consisted of nutritional supplements, weight loss products, shampoo and personal care products. FreeLife has since changed its product lines and now focuses on a juice made from wolfberry and sold under the name of Himalayan Goji Juice. FreeLife operates as an international multi-level marketing company where commissions are paid on multiple levels for recruiting others to buy and sell the product. Getting started includes an initial financial investment plus getting set up on a monthly 4-pack shipment of Himalayan Goji Juice for about $129.95 +taxes & shipping (about $200.00 per month). By recruiting others to buy and sell the product, an individual can reduce their product expenses and earn additional revenue.

History
FreeLife was backed by investors, including Anson Beard of Morgan Stanley/Dean Witter, and with nutritionist and author of the nutritional book, the Vitamin Bible, Earl Mindell. FreeLife has since grown into a large multi-million dollar international company.



FreeLife's spokesperson, Earl Mindell, has made several claims about the health benefits of the goji brand of wolfberry juice, including that it has anti-aging properties. . Several unpublished studies have been made linking the juice with benefits for cancer patients, a claim which has caused controversy because the Goji Juice is an antioxidant, which can interfere with existing cancer treatments. A seller of Goji Juice, was warned about making unsubstantiated claims about the juice's health benefits by the United States Food and Drug Administration.

In a hidden-camera investigation and an interview by Wendy Mesley on the CBC consumer television program Marketplace (aired 24 January, 2007), H. Leon Bradlow, the author of a study that Mindell cites as support for this anti-cancer claim, says that his original research does not, in fact, show that goji juice has any anti-cancer properties, and states "I don't have proof that it would have that effect in a tumor in a mouse, let alone a person."

In addition, Bradlow's study was carried out at Hackensack University Medical Center, not the "prestigious" Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center as Mindell had repeatedly claimed.

Mesley then went on to confront Mindell, whom FreeLife refers to as "Dr. Mindell" about the validity of his Ph.D from Pacific Western University and whether or not he is a medical doctor. Mindell asserted that his degree is "accredited in every state in the Union", a claim that is clearly contrary to fact. Shortly after this comment, he ejected Mesley and her crew from his house and threatened to call the police.