http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1439381,00.html

Felicity Lawrence, consumer affairs correspondent
Thursday March 17, 2005

Guardian
The Atkins low-carb diet appeared to be suffering from a hypoglycaemic
crash yesterday as it emerged that Atkins Nutritionals UK, the company
that sells its diet products in the UK, was about to call in the
administrators.

Jeremy Willmont from the chartered accountants Moore Stephens
confirmed that the company was taking steps to go into liquidation
following poor sales.

More than 30 million people around the world are thought to have
followed the diet devised by the US doctor Robert Atkins, which
depends on cutting out food high in refined carbohydrates and sugars
such as bread, potatoes, cereals, and instead eating a high-protein,
high-fat diet based on meat, eggs, butter and cheese.

The regime spawned a new industry, with celebrities endorsing the
effects of the low-carb diet. Sales of cereals, breads and potatoes
fell.

The Atkins name was then used to market low-carb versions of the
processed foods that the diet recommended cutting out, and a range of
cereals and snacks was launched in the UK. Leading manufacturers also
rushed products to the market to take advantage of the craze as their
own diet products were hit.

But in the fickle world of dieting, the fad has moved on. The focus
now is on the glycaemic index of foods - the rate at which they are
broken down into glucose in the blood. The GI index, originally used
by doctors to help people with diabetes regulate their diets, formed
part of the Atkins theory, but rivals said its interpretation was too
harsh to follow.

A report by market research firm Mintel last October highlighted the
high dropout rate. James McCoy, a consumer analyst at Mintel, said:
"While many customers may have been attracted to the promise of rapid
weight loss, they appear to have found it a difficult diet to stick to
in the long term."

Dr Atkins' diet suffered a blow to its image when a medical report
showed that he was fat when he died. Nutritionists also attacked it,
saying a diet high in fat and protein and low in antioxidants from
fruit and vegetables could lead to long-term ill health, including
heart disease. Followers admitted to bad breath and headaches.

Industry experts said that while the original diet was very popular,
the diet products never were.

"Once they started trying to flog their own products, consumers asked
whether it was a money-making machine rather than a proper diet," Sian
Harrington of the food trade magazine the Grocer said.