Atkins company going into liquidation in United Kingdom

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.