Soitettu
-
We’ve come 12,000 kilometres from Auckland to Medellín, on the trail of Chris Ashenden, the chief executive of AG1. We don’t have his number or his address, but we think he lives here.
Today’s Medellín is a vibrant city that’s attracting new investment and faces from around the world – but the legacy of drug lord Pablo Escobar and the paramilitaries still echoes in violence on the streets. You might expect us to pack Kevlar body armour for our visit. Instead, we pack our gym gear – because one thing we do know about Chris the Kiwi, is where he works out.
Each episode is available first to subscribers to DELVE+. To listen early and ad-free to this show, to our bonus episodes, and to award-winning podcast The Boy in the Water and Melanie Reid’s latest investigation, Fractured, sign up to DELVE+.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
The US Food and Drug Administration reveals it’s received 118 adverse event complaints from AG1 users – this year alone. In particular, there are 30-plus reports of liver harm in 2023 and 2024.
The billion dollar company dismisses the liver harm complaints as “extremely rare”, saying it can be caused by a range of things such as alcoholic liver injury, viral hepatitis and autoimmune disease. The FDA hasn’t investigated the complaints to confirm whether they are indeed caused by AG1 – but some consumers and scientists are calling for an official investigation into this glamour product championed by superstar influencers.
Each episode is available first to subscribers to DELVE+. To listen early and ad-free to this show, to our bonus episodes, and to award-winning podcast The Boy in the Water and Melanie Reid’s latest investigation, Fractured, sign up to DELVE+.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
When investigative journalist Jonathan Milne started slugging back an expensive, vivid green AG1 shake every morning to get in shape for his 50th birthday, he knew what the company’s chief science officer said – that the green powder product would make him healthier.
What he didn’t know about were the adverse reports to the Food and Drug Administration of liver damage, nor of the scrutiny by the courts, and now of a national regulator.
Episodes 1 and 2 of Powder Keg are live now, with Episode 3 also available for subscribers to DELVE+.
To listen early and ad-free to this show, to our bonus episodes, and to award-winning podcast The Boy in the Water and Melanie Reid’s latest investigation, Fractured, sign up to DELVE+.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
-
Chris Ashenden and Jonathan Milne are both Kiwi blokes in their late 40s. Chris has an unrelenting personal ambition – it’s served him well. The business leader’s quest wasn’t for the Holy Grail, it was for a holy green drink.
Jonathan is an investigative journalist. What’s served him well is his doggedness. And when Chris wouldn’t front for an interview about the success of his green powder shake and his US$1.2 billion company, Jonathan began asking questions.
At first, Chris’s AG1 supplement had been targeted at sportspeople and gym freaks – but by last year, we reveal he’d rebranded to target the widest possible market of middle-America…desk-bound 30- or 40-something mums and dads, anxious to get back in shape.
Episodes 1 and 2 of Powder Keg are live now, with Episode 3 also available for subscribers to DELVE+.
To listen early and ad-free to this show, to our bonus episodes, and to award-winning podcast The Boy in the Water and Melanie Reid’s latest investigation, Fractured, sign up to DELVE+.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
