by Dan-N on June 29, 2009
By: Aka Hige
Free Acai Berry Products…. a Scam.
Free course on how to spot Acai Berry Scams… PRICELESS!
The most common question we get at Supplement Secrets Exposed is -
I just got an email for a free trial of Acai - is this legitimate?
The Answer is NO! The free trial Acai offers are really not free at all. If you don’t cancel immediately you are billed and then autobilled every month. Central Coast Nutraceuticals (CCN), the makers of Acai Pure were just hit with a $1.4 Million legal settlement for deceptive marketing practices (read our post on the Acai Pure settlement here).
So how do you buy an Acai supplement without getting scammed?
Welcome to our Black Belt Course - Spotting Acai Scams
That’s is right - once you finish reading this article you will be a true Black Belt in spotting Acai Scams
…
As Bruce Lee Could Defeat 100 Attackers
You Will be able to Defeat 100 Spams on Acai Free Trials
Okay, that analogy is weak - but you get the idea - come my student and learn how to defeat the evil Acai Berry Scams.
Lesson 1: If You Have to Enter a Credit Card - It is NOT Free
Most Acai Berry Free Trial Scams scream out that you can try Acai for free… just enter your credit card to pay for shipping. Sounds fair enough, but hidden in the Terms of Service is the real trick - you are authorizing the company to autobill your credit card each month for more products (at extremely high prices). Which leads us to Lesson 2…
[click to continue…]
by Dan-N on June 25, 2009
Maybe there is some justice in this world…
Maybe crime really does not pay…
On 6/25/09 the Arizona Attorney General announced it had reached a record settlement of $1,375,000 with Central Coast Nutraceuticals (CCN). CCN is the company that makes the Acai Pure (acai-pure.com), one of the many so called “free trial Acai Berry Products”.
We have been over the various angles to Acai Berry Scams but they involve the same basic elements of deception and misrepresentation. The Arizona Attorney General had received hundreds of complains about CCN and brought a lawsuit in December 2008 alleging CCN used a variety of deceptive tactics marketing low cost “risk-free” trial offers of health supplements.
If You Have Purchased Pure Acai you May Be Able to Get Your Money Back
Under the terms of the settlement, the state of Arizona is receiving about $1 Million and $350,000 is being put into an account to refund to customers who have purchased the Pure Acai from CCN. If you did buy Pure Acai you want to call 1-800-352-8431 by August 17, 2009 so you can file your claim for a possible refund. It is important to note that anyone who has purchased Pure Acai can file a claim (you do not need to live in Arizona).
Let’s All Say a Big Thank You to the Arizona Attorney General
We can at times be a little cynical about the supplement industry, but let’s pause and for the moment be thankful that the bad guys got their due. Sure there are still lots of other Acai Scams floating around the internet, but at least this was a step in the right direction.
More Information:
Press Release from the Arizona Attorney General
Nice piece in the Consumerist about this Acai Berry Scam
Acai Berry Videos that expose Acai Berry Scams
by Dan-N on June 24, 2009
Fresh Cinnamon
Cinnamon, we all know it and love it. Is there anything better on French Toast then some fresh powdered Cinnamon? Don’t even get us started on the taste delight of Apple Cider in the fall with a fresh Cinnamon stick. And is life worth living if we couldn’t have our sticky buns??? But clearly we digress.
Cinnamon - A Food or Supplement in Disguise?
Cinnamon is a food, a lovely spice that has been around forever. We see it in the supermarket, it sits on our spice shelf - cinnamon is a food. Or is it…
Yes, the cinnamon you see sold in the supermarket as a spice is a food. However, take that exact same cinnamon and add these 4 magic words to the label -
Supports Blood Glucose Levels
And you instantly turn that Cinnamon from a food into a Dietary Supplement!
Remember that boring article we wrote on What is a Dietary Supplement, well part of the definition of a dietary supplement is how it used to supplement the diet and can help maintain normal body functions. So, the way a product is marketed and labeled has a lot to do with how the FDA will classify the product. In the case of Cinnamon - it is a food if the label makes no mention of helping blood sugar/glucose levels. If the same Cinnamon is sold to help blood sugar levels, the FDA then says it is a Dietary Supplement.
Okay, so why does any of this matter?
To you, the end consumer, it matters because sometimes you need to read between the lines. You may hear about a food that some Doctors claim can help with diabetes, but when you look at the package there is no mention of the health benefits. It may be the case that the manufacturer wants the product to be seen as a food in the eyes of the FDA and that is why no mention is made in the marketing.
In addition, knowing this Supplement Secret can Save you Some Money!
Let’s say you see one cinnamon product that is $30 and claims to help with blood sugar levels. You see another cinnamon which is just a spice, but cost only $8. If the ingredient list is just pure cinnamon in both products, save the $22 and just buy the “food” cinnamon. With the extra $22 I suggest you buy French Toast and Apple Cider and cover them with the cinnamon!
by Dan-N on June 19, 2009
Sorry, we know we have been writing a lot about the acai berry recently, but that is only because we think it is a terrific fruit and hate to see certain companies misrepresent the facts about Acai. So, today we pose the question -
Which is Harder to find Pure Acai or an Honest Politician?
Let’s start with the politicians first. Regardless of what your political views are, I think it is safe to say we have all felt the frustration of voting for someone based on his/her campaign promises and then only to find the politician NOT honor those promises once elected. Do politicians have to lie to get elected? Are they just telling us what we want to hear to get out vote? Who knows - all we know is that a completely honest politician is a rare breed.
Pure Acai Berry Products - Endangered or Extinct?
A quick scan of Google will find over 12 million sites selling some type of Acai berry product. With over 12 million sites, you would hope that more than a handful offer a real pure Acai Berry product. What do we mean by Pure Acai Berry? Here are our requirements:
A Pure Acai Berry Product must:
- Be made only from the skin and pulp of the Acai Berry (no seeds)
- Contain only the Acai berry - NO OTHER INGREDIENTS
- List all ingredients on the label - NO proprietary ingredient list
- Be made with Organic freeze dried Acai
- Be frozen within 18 hours of the acai berry being picked
If you apply the above criteria to the majority of so called “pure Acai” products on the market, you will find that a pure Acai berry product is very hard to find. We see Pure Acai as endangered, but luckily not extinct yet.
So, which is harder to find Pure Acai or a Honest Politician? We don’t know - we will let you decide. What we do know is that you would have a better chance of winning the lottery than you would of finding an honest politician who sold Pure Acai!
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