Consumers may have flocked to various superfruits based on exotic appeal and the promise of health benefits, owing to the inroads made by antioxidants over the years. The limited amount of research on many of these products, then, would not be a negative factor if not for the extravagant claims made by marketers flooding this market segment.
In summer 2009, Texas reached a settlement with supplement distributor FXsupplements.com (aka acaiberrymaxx.com) for making false claims about its açaí product and unauthorized business practices related to charging its customers. This açaí supplement was marketed as able to reduce the risk of heart attack, Alzheimer’s disease and cancers, as well as limit premature aging. The company’s marketing actually claimed the highly antioxidant product could “flush up to 30 pounds of waste and toxins from the body.”
Also in 2009, Illinois officials went after three açaí marketers for similar fraudulent business practices, including-credit card scamming of customers via free trial offers that are hard to cancel and often involve no product shipped. Then Oprah Winfrey brought a huge lawsuit against numerous supplement companies, including açaí marketers, for trademark infringement related to a prior endorsement of açaí berry on her television show by Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Renowned botanical expert Mark Blumenthal, American Botanical Council (ABC), cautioned these credit-card scams could have involved any product and shouldn’t reflect negatively on açaí berry. However, this is an example of how a hot market segment can draw rogue players intent on exploiting the popularity of a product or ingredient, and take advantage of the regulatory environment for supplements.
On a brighter note, all açaí products tested by watchdog group ConsumerLab.com passed tests for various quality criteria, showing no contaminants or undeclared ingredients. The tests featured six randomly selected products and six that were voluntarily submitted.