by Dan-N on November 19, 2009
We sure like to put the word “super” in front of anything in this industry. Superfoods, SuperFruits, SuperSize …whoops – that one is for the fast food industry! Around this time of year you hear a lot of talk about what will be the top SuperFood of 2010. Of course, that question would be easier to answer if we could all agree on a definition for superfoods.
What is a SuperFood Anyway?
Here is how Wikipedia defines a SuperFood -
Superfood is a term sometimes used to describe food with high phytonutrient content that may confer health benefits as a result.
That clears it all up, right? No, such a broad definition of SuperFood would make almost any fruit, by definition a SuperFood. When every fruit can fall into a definition, that definition loses any significance. If every fruit is a superfood or superfruit, what makes one fruit more super than the next???
How Does the FDA Define SuperFoods and SuperFruits
They don’t! It is important to understand that there is no legal definition of SuperFoods or SuperFruits. There is no science to apply to a food and determine if it is a super food. As far as the FDA is concerned, all this talk about Superfoods is just marketing.
What About Acai, Muscadines, Resveratrol, Noni, etc. – I thought they were SuperFoods?
We do believe that Muscadine Grapes, Acai Berries and Resveratrol all have super nutritional profiles and some impressive health benefits. So, it seems fair to call these elite fruits SuperFoods – and almost everyone does. However, if you twist our arm and ask us what scientific formula we use to determine if a food makes it to SuperFood status – we have a one word answer – Oprah!
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by Dan-N on November 3, 2009
If we had a dime for every minute we spent writing about Acai Scams we would be rich! And tired, from lugging all those dimes over to the bank… but that’s not the point. As the calendar turns from October to November we might actually see a very positive trend – a decrease in acai berry scams!
Oprah Lawsuit Might Finally Be Putting a Dent in Acai Berry Scams
Our unofficial review has shown the number of free trial acai scams increase every month since about July 2008. October 2009 looks like it may be the first month where the number of Acai free trial scams did not increase. Of course, it is almost impossible to scientifically measure this, but when we look at Acai related spam and Acai advertising – it did look like October was a cleaner month than September.
We have no doubt that the 267 Page Lawsuit by Oprah (Harpo Productions) had a lot to do with this trend. It was not just the companies that Harpo brought suit against, we believe it also had a ripple effect by scaring off many other acai scam companies. The Oprah lawsuit made it clear they would go after anyone who used her (or Dr. Oz’s) image to promote their Acai supplement.
Let’s Not Count Our Chickens Before They Hatch
Let’s not pull punches, there are still thousands of Acai Berry products being sold in deceptive and dishonest ways. If you have a shark tank filled with 100 sharks – it would be dangerous to jump in. If you then removed 70 sharks, I guess it is a little safer, but I would still be vary cautious about jumping in!
As we have said before, there are some quality Acai Supplements out there, you just need to be very careful before you give out your credit card to anyone.
We will report back at the end of November and see if this positive trend in decreasing the number of acai scam products can continue.
by Dan-N on October 14, 2009
by Dan-N on August 20, 2009
Justice may move slowly, but at least it is finally moving. On 8/18 the Attorney General of Illinois announced they are bringing a suit against 3 different Acai companies that have scammed and deceived customers. In addition, Harpo, Inc – producers of the Oprah Winfrey show – filed a trademark infringement suit against 40 internet marketers of dietary supplements such as Acai.
You Go Oprah – Stick it to Them!
Our regular readers are sick to death of us writing about Acai scams. In case you missed any of our posts, will put some links at the bottom of this article. Here is the quick summary – Acai Free Trail Scam companies have been ripping off consumers for over a year now and we have been screaming for the FDA, FTC, Attorney Generals, BBB – anyone to put an end to this! It now looks like Oprah and Attorney General Lisa Madigan are finally putting a dent in the Acai scams.
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