The Cambridge Diet-Reply

Abstract

In Reply.— Dr Howard's letter not responsive to our criticisms of the Cambridge Diet. We made no claim that the diet is fundamentally unsafe. In fact, we specifically noted that it may not be inherently dangerous but that danger arises from the manner in which the diet used. A major problem with the Cambridge Diet that we addressed the manner in which it marketed to the public—without assurance that its users will obtain the close medical supervision that required with all very-low-calorie diets. 1 Dr Howard contends, on the basis of survey data and data from the FDA, that the Cambridge Diet safe. This contention rests on the assumption that there has been a complete reporting of all deaths associated with the diet—a very risky assumption. It precisely the manner in which the diet marketed that prevents Cambridge International from obtaining accurate