Baking & Snack - May 2007 - 95

Diet Rx: COOKIES
Doctors Nutrition's high-protein cookies help individuals lose weight on medically
supervised diets.
BY SHANE WHITAKER
f you have not yet heard of The Cookie Diet or Smart
for Life Weight Management Centers, just wait: One
probably will be in your area within the next year or
so. Currently, 37 Smart for Life Centers are dotted
across the country, but US Medical Care Holdings, Boca
Raton, FL, the parent company of the weight management chain, plans to expand to more than 50 franchises
by the end of this year and add another 50 units in 2008.
Sasson Moulavi, M.D., started the medically supervised
weight management program more than four years ago,
and in 2006, the company opened Doctors Nutrition, a
food processing plant that manufactures Smart Cookies
and other food products for the centers.
Located in Wellington, FL, Doctors Nutrition's mission
is to develop healthy food products to aid in weight management and wellness, according to David Klein, Ph.D.,
c.o.o. of US Medical Care Holdings. When he joined the
company two and one-half years ago, there were only
three Smart for Life Centers. Dr. Moulavi, chief medical
officer for the company, is board certified in bariatrics, a
branch of medicine that specializes in the medical treatment of obesity, by the American Society of Bariatric
Medicine. "Dr. Moulavi and his wife Renata did a great
job of getting the company started and organized," Dr.
Klein said. As it began to grow and the husband and wife
team needed help, so Dr. Klein was brought in to help
expand the company's precense.
While the company is growing fast, Dr. Klein said it
has spent virtually nothing in advertising to sell its franchises. "We are growing because we have a good product, and we have well-placed networked individuals and
physicians who can testify to the success of the program
and how it has lowered the medications their patients
are taking for hypertension, cholesterol, etc. because of
losing weight," he said. "We are finding through proper
nutrition and weight management people are able to
lower their blood pressure and cholesterol medicines
and go on lower levels of insulin for diabetes. When
doctors see this happening to their patients, they notice,
and that is how we are growing."

ᮡ Executives with Doctors Nutrition - Tony Ciotti (from left), facilities
manager; Sasson Moulavi, M.D., chief medical officer, Smart for Life Weight
Management Centers; Dave Selig, product development manager; and David
Klein, Ph.D., c.o.o., Smart for Life - show products made at the food processing plant in Wellington, FL.
DEVELOPING PRODUCTS. Before opening the Doctors
Nutrition facility last year, Smart for Life Centers licensed
product from another company making high-protein
cookies, shakes and soups. "We reached a point where we
were no longer comfortable with the products we were
getting and recognized that we needed to make our own,"
Dr. Klein said. "We are growing, and we needed to build a
product specific to us."
Doctors Nutrition is able to formulate its Smart Cookies exactly to Smart for Life's specifications to ensure that
the amount of protein and amino acids are spot on for
appetite suppression.
Tony Ciotti was hired in September as facilities manager for Doctors Nutrition, and he brought his American
Institute of Baking training and bakery experience to the
company. "They had no control over the product and no

May 2007 / BAKING & SNACK / 101

Baking & Snack - May 2007

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