Açaí berries and juice (Euterpe oleracea Mart.)
Pronounced "ah-sigh-ee"
In the previous issue of the Berry Doctor's Journal, we covered the scams that pervade the consumer market for açaí products -- Click here to review!
For this week, let's have a look at how this type of consumer fraud evolves for berry products and what can be done about it.
Berries not exploited in scams
- blueberries
- blackberries
- cranberries
- raspberries
- strawberries
- grapes
- blackcurrants
Blueberries, Vaccinium corymbosum L.
Why these berries are "fraud-resistant"
- commonly farmed, available and understood in large consumer markets of North America and Europe
- well-studied by modern first-world science
- have established retail brands or are used in commonly available products
- have been in the consumer market for many years -- aura of 'unknown' or exotic does not exist
Fraud-prone berries click for Berry Doctor updates!
Why these berries are opportunities for unscrupulous manufacturers and marketers to exploit them
- exotic, foreign, mysterious -- not understood by American or European consumers
- have not yet captured the interest and rigorous study by Western scientists
- relatively limited export supply that can be controlled by a manufacturer
- common in traditional medicine or folk/naturopathy legends and unscientific applications
- prone to exaggerations about health benefits not established by accepted science
- prone to misinformation and distortion of health effects by multi-level marketing companies and distribution networks
- undeveloped or new in the American and European retail markets
Goji (wolfberry, Lycium barbarum L.), Zhongning County, Ningxia, China
Courtesy of Dr. Zhisheng Qing, Go-goji.com
Los Angeles Times -- requirements for superfruit status, click! somewhat 'tongue-in-cheek', Rosie Mestel, July 1, 2008 listed these characteristics of a superfruit:
1) hard-to-pronounce name
2) unfamiliar to Westerners
3) come from far, far away
4) used over centuries by ancient people
5) should be odd-looking!
6) should be expensive!
Be skeptical about what
you're getting in superfruit products.
Read a 3-part series from The Berry Doctor's Journal, click
Read the Federal Trade Commission regulations
about consumer fraud from marketed health products, click!
See "How to Spot False Claims"
