Atkins Goes Bankrupt
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James Joyner | Monday, August 1, 2005 |
The company behind the Atkins Diet phenomenon has filed for banruptcy protection.
Low-carb king Atkins files Chapter 11 (AP)
Atkins Nutritionals Inc., the company that promoted low-carb eating into a national diet craze, filed for bankruptcy court protection Sunday, a company spokesman said. Atkins has been hurt by waning popularity of its namesake diet, which focuses on eliminating carbohydrates such as bread and pasta to shed weight. The diet became one of the most popular in U.S. history, spawning a virtual cottage industry of low-carb regimens, but also drew criticism from experts for its focus on fatty foods and low fruit and vegetable consumption.
A hearing on the prearranged, Chapter 11 filing was scheduled for Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, spokesman Richard Rothstein said. The privately held company, founded in 1989 by Dr. Robert C. Atkins, said it had reached an agreement with the majority of its lenders to give them equity in exchange for lowered debt.
The irony is that, in the early years at least, Atkins really wasn’t selling anything other than the books. Unlike, say, Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers, the beauty of the Atkins Diet was the fact that one did not have to buy special foods sold by the company; rather, one simply purchased meats and other high protein foods and avoided breads, pasta, potatoes, rice, and other high carbohydrate foods. Once the company started promoting “low carb” foods that were in fact not particularly low in carbohydrates, its very rationale began to crumble.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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