{"id":9458,"date":"2020-04-28T15:36:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-28T19:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/?p=9458"},"modified":"2020-04-28T15:36:08","modified_gmt":"2020-04-28T19:36:08","slug":"the-murky-marketing-of-superfoods-the-case-of-acai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/2020\/04\/28\/the-murky-marketing-of-superfoods-the-case-of-acai\/","title":{"rendered":"The Murky Marketing of Superfoods\u2014The Case of A\u00e7a\u00ed"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week we are featuring work from students in Val Ryan’s class The Science of Food and Cooking (MET ML619). Today’s post comes from Gastronomy student Mara Sassoon.<\/em><\/p>\n

A\u00e7a\u00ed: by now, the purple Brazilian berry is ubiquitous in the United States. Most often, it is found in the form of a frozen pulp that is mixed with bananas or other berries into vibrant frozen smoothie bowls, a dish that has become increasingly popular over the past few years, popping up in restaurants and caf\u00e9s and on Instagram feeds (fig. 1). Recently, even Trader Joe\u2019s<\/a> and Dole<\/a> have gotten in on the trend, offering premade versions one can find in the frozen food aisle of the grocery store. But why has the purple treat become so popular?<\/p>\n

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Fig. 1 \u2013 The a\u00e7a\u00ed smoothie bowl, a popular dish incorporating the a\u00e7a\u00ed berry.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jamie Lauren Keiles gets to the main reason for the a\u00e7a\u00ed craze in her 2017 article for the New York Times Magazine <\/em>titled, \u201cThe Superfood Goldrush.\u201d She interviewed the owner of a so-called \u201csuperfood caf\u00e9\u201d in Los Angeles about the smoothie bowl\u2019s appeal. His response? \u201cThe blend is like an ice cream. But healthy\u201d (Keiles 2017, 34). A\u00e7a\u00ed, as Keiles\u2019 article points out, has long been hyped as a health-packed \u2018superfood,\u2019 espoused for a multitude of potential benefits\u2014 marketers like to point out that is rife with antioxidants, and some even point to anti-aging and weight loss benefits from the berry.<\/p>\n

Food and nutrition science have become entangled in the problematic strategies marketers use to claim positive health effects of so-called \u2018superfoods.\u2019 Examining how a\u00e7a\u00ed or any of the many other \u2018superfoods\u2019 out there\u2014among them, blueberries, pomegranate, kale, and quinoa\u2014have been advertised over the last fifteen to twenty years reveals how food and nutrition science are negatively utilized by marketers to influence how people perceive nutrition and healthy eating.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery food producer wants to expand sales. Health claims sell. The FDA requires research to support health claims and greatly prefers studies that involve human subjects rather than animals,\u201d Marion Nestle writes in a 2018 article for The Atlantic<\/em>, \u201cSuperfoods are a Marketing Ploy\u201d (Nestle 2018). In the article, Nestle details how food producers fund research to support health claims they make about their food, a perfect example of how food and nutrition science is shoehorned into supporting marketing goals. She specifically points out two producers, Royal Hawaiian Macadamia Nut and Wild Blueberries of North America. The claims their research produced? One: eating macadamia nuts every day could reduce the risk of heart disease and two: Wild Bluberries\u2019 particular frozen blueberries are healthier than fresh blueberries.<\/p>\n

As Nestle argues, the research funded by these industries is often misleading, organized around profit rather than around real concern for people\u2019s healthy eating habits. This kind of research and these kinds of claims cast individual foods as cure-alls no matter what comprises the rest of a person\u2019s diet. \u201cTo ask whether one single food has special health benefits defies common sense. We do not eat just one food,\u201d Nestle writes. \u201cBut when marketing imperatives are at work, sellers want research to claim that their products are \u2018superfoods,\u2019 a nutritionally meaningless term.\u201d Nestle would likely agree that the next time one digs a spoon into a frosty a\u00e7a\u00ed bowl, one should think about the studies behind its health claims and who has funded them.<\/p>\n

Indeed, a\u00e7a\u00ed is not immune to such sensationalized health assertions. The use of the term \u2018superfood\u2019 is rampant when it comes to the fruit. Sambazon, one of the most popular companies for a\u00e7a\u00ed products, labels it as \u201cThe Amazon Superfood\u201d on its website (Sambazon, n.d.). The term is also present in relatively new recipe books: Melissa Petitto, a registered dietician, published the 2019 book Superfood Acai Recipes: 40 Natural and Super-Easy Smoothie and Bowl Recipes <\/em>(fig. 2). At the beginning of the book, she cites the same supposed health benefits of the fruit that are widely promoted elsewhere\u2014among them, positive effects on brain function, high levels of antioxidants and nutrients, and anticancer properties (Petitto 2019, 6). Many restaurants use the catchphrase, too: similar to the caf\u00e9 Keiles describes in her article, Vitality Bowls, a popular franchised eatery with locations around the United States, specializes in a\u00e7a\u00ed bowls and also dubs itself a \u201csuperfood caf\u00e9.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Fig. 2 \u2013 Even relatively new recipe books use the term \u201csuperfood.\u201d Pictured here: the 2019 book Superfood Acai Recipes: 40 Natural and Super-Easy Smoothie and Bowl Recipes by registered dietician Melissa Petitto.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In their paper, \u201cUnlocking the Energy of the Amazon? The Need for a Food Fraud Policy Approach to the Regulation of Anti-Ageing Health Claims on Superfood Labelling,\u201d Janine Curll, Christine Parker, Casimir MacGregor, and Alan Petersen delve into the problematic marketing of a\u00e7a\u00ed as a \u2018superfood.\u2019 They include statistics to illustrate the sales impact of labeling something a \u2018superfood,\u2019 including that \u201cblueberry sales reportedly doubled between 2005 and 2007\u201d because of it (Curll et al. 2016, 420). However, Curll et al. argue that calling something a \u2018superfood\u2019 is tantamount to \u201cfood fraud,\u201d referring to the misleading labeling or packaging of food. The authors, who are all from Australia, specifically examined a\u00e7a\u00ed products available there, including powders, frozen pulp, pills, and drinks.<\/p>\n

One common thread they observed was that many of the products included an \u201cexotic back story\u201d as part of a marketing tactic to make the products\u2019 health claims seem more believable. They write, \u201cLabelling implies that it is the mystical origins in the Amazon jungle itself that contributes to the superior properties of the a\u00e7a\u00ed berry\u201d (2016, 435). While not one of the brands they observed, Sambazon uses the same kind of tactic in its marketing, even working a positive environmental bent into its narrative: \u201cAncient legend tells us the entire Amazon was born of a single seed of A\u00e7a\u00ed. A gift from Princess Ia\u00e7\u00e3 (her name spells A\u00e7a\u00ed backwards), its legendary powers are said to have saved its people from starvation while creating abundance for all who lived there. Today A\u00e7a\u00ed continues to protect the people of the Amazon, by making the forest more valuable standing than cut down\u201d (Sambazon, n.d.).<\/p>\n

Reflecting on Sambazon\u2019s mythical story, however, one must question the impact the \u2018superfood\u2019 marketing and subsequent rise in sales of a\u00e7a\u00ed have had on the environment. Extensive detrimental ecological impact due to increased a\u00e7a\u00ed production has not been widely reported, however in a 2015 paper titled \u201cFloristic impoverishment of Amazonian floodplain forests managed for a\u00e7a\u00ed fruit production,\u201d Madson Antonio Benjamin Freitas et al. report on a study they conducted on the impact of heightened demand for the fruit on the forests where it is grown. \u201cOur study is the first to demonstrate a significant loss of local tree species richness and a trend toward floral impoverishment in Amazonian floodplain forests under intense a\u00e7a\u00ed production,\u201d they write, noting a negative impact on the variety of surrounding plant and tree species that they believe should be curtailed through conservation initiatives (Freitas et al. 2015, 24).<\/p>\n

Curll et al. also observed that almost all of the products they examined touted anti-aging properties due to the levels of antioxidants found in the fruit (2016, 433). In fact, the rich antioxidant level of a\u00e7a\u00ed is one of its most prevalently advertised benefits. Curll et al. point to a\u00e7a\u00ed\u2019s popularity as starting with a 2005 book by dermatologist Dr. Nicholas Perricone\u2014and a subsequent publicity appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show<\/em>\u2014in which he discussed the anti-aging benefits of the berry. In said book, The Perricone Promise: Look Younger, Live Longer in Three Easy Steps<\/em>, he discusses the high level of antioxidants in the fruit and also praises its anthocyanins, pigments containing antioxidants, calling a\u00e7a\u00ed berries \u201cthe richest anthocyanin sources by far\u201d (Perricone 2005, 50).<\/p>\n

Perricone and others have placed a\u00e7a\u00ed on a pedestal that Curll et al. find problematic. They argue that, while the berries certainly possess many healthful qualities, they are perhaps no more healthy than other foods, writing, \u201c\u2018superfood\u2019 claims…seek to distinguish some fruit and vegetables, such as a\u00e7ai, from other \u2018normal\u2019, unbranded fruit and vegetables on the basis that a particular set of bioactive molecules (or \u2018phytochemicals\u2019) in the food are especially potent antioxidants\u201d (2016, 433). Yet, other fruits contain comparable levels of phytochemicals to a\u00e7a\u00ed. Bioactives in Fruit: Health Benefits and Functional Foods<\/em>, edited by Margot Skinner and Denise Hunter, a more than 500-page tome detailing the nutrient compositions of various fruits, actually groups a\u00e7a\u00ed with grapes, blackcurrants, strawberries, peaches, apples, blueberries, pomegranates, and others in its discussions of fruits with high levels of phytochemicals (Skinner and Hunter 2013, 468). This is yet another example of the potential for food and nutrition science to be used deceptively for marketing initiatives.<\/p>\n

Other studies have found that a\u00e7a\u00ed\u2019s antioxidants have not been proven to be fully absorbed by the body. In The A-Z Guide to Food as Medicine<\/em>, Diane Kraft and Ara DerMarderosian write that recent studies of the a\u00e7a\u00ed berry\u2014the first entry in the book\u2014which is also often consumed as juice, found \u201c\u2018no consistent clinical evidence of antioxidant potency\u2019 of acai compared to other beverages, such as red wine\u201d and that drinking the fruit\u2019s juice and pulp \u201craised plasma antioxidant capacity but did not affect other markers of antioxidant activity such as antioxidant capacity of urine\u201d (Kraft and DerMarderosian 2016, 1). These studies noted by Kraft and DerMarderosian show that food and nutrition science can also be used to fact-check health claims made by food companies, ironically, based on food science itself.<\/p>\n

Look outside the realm of a\u00e7a\u00ed products, and one can see that the term \u2018superfood\u2019 is widespread in food marketing (fig. 3). As Nestle points out in her article for The Atlantic<\/em>, it is necessary to be an engaged and aware consumer who attempts to discern who conducted the studies that back up health claims and whether there could be any biases present. I realize that food scientists, researchers, nutritionists, and food companies must often work hand in hand due to the FDA\u2019s requirement of research to back up health claims. Still, perhaps there could be more regulatory processes to avoid instances of studies seemingly designed to back up such claims specifically.<\/p>\n

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Fig. 3 \u2013 The term \u201csuperfood\u201d is widespread in food marketing, such as in these ads for Health Warrior bars.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As many of the aforementioned scholars have pointed out, \u2018superfood\u2019 is a problematic term and, though unrealistic, it would be helpful to stop using the term entirely. It is still used irresponsibly by influential sources. For instance, Harvard is sending out mixed messaging on the term. The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health published an article titled \u201cSuperfoods or Superhype?\u201d which supports the notion that the term is problematic (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, n.d.). Yet, Harvard Health Publishing ran a blog post in 2018 titled \u201c10 superfoods to boost a healthy diet\u201d (McManus 2018). Doctor Mehmet Oz, regarded as a prominent authority on health topics, uses the term in his book, Food Can Fix It: The Superfood Switch to Fight Fat, Defy Aging, and Eat Your Way Healthy<\/em>. Although he discusses in the introduction how people use the term problematically and that \u201cno such food exists\u201d (Oz 2017, 2), he is nonetheless using it in the title of his book because it is a catchy and enticing phrase. The term connotes a cure-all food, and as the example of a\u00e7a\u00ed shows, that is an impossible feat.<\/p>\n

Works Cited<\/strong><\/p>\n

Curll, Janine, Christine Parker, Casimir MacGregor, and Alan Petersen. 2016. \u201cUnlocking the Energy of the Amazon? The Need for a Food Fraud Policy Approach to the Regulation of Anti-Ageing Health Claims on Superfood Labelling.\u201d Federal Law Review <\/em>44, no. 3 (September): 419-449.<\/p>\n

Freitas, Madson Antonio Benjamin, Ima C\u00e9lia Guimar\u00e3es Vieira, Ana Luisa Kerti Mangabeira Albernaz, Jos\u00e9 Leonardo Lima Magalh\u00e3es, and Alexander Charles Lees. 2015. \u201cFloristic impoverishment of Amazonian floodplain forests managed for a\u00e7a\u00ed fruit production.\u201d Forest Ecology and Management <\/em>351, no. 1 (September): 20-27.<\/p>\n

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. n.d. \u201cSuperfoods or Superhype?\u201d Accessed March 22, 2020. https:\/\/www.hsph.harvard.edu\/nutritionsource\/superfoods\/.<\/p>\n

Keiles, Jamie Lauren. 2017. \u201cThe Superfood Goldrush.\u201d New York Times<\/em>, May 2, 2017. https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/05\/02\/magazine\/the-superfood-gold- rush.html.<\/p>\n

Kraft, Diane and Ara DerMarderosian. 2016. The A-Z Guide to Food as Medicine. <\/em>New York: Taylor & Francis.<\/p>\n

McManus, Katherine D. 2018. \u201c10 superfoods to boost a healthy diet.\u201d Accessed March\u202822, 2020. https:\/\/www.health.harvard.edu\/blog\/10-superfoods-to-boost-a-healthy-diet- 2018082914463.<\/p>\n

Nestle, Marion. 2018. \u201cSuperfoods are a Marketing Ploy.\u201d The Atlantic<\/em>, October 23, 2018. https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/health\/archive\/2018\/10\/superfoods-marketing- ploy\/573583\/.<\/p>\n

Oz, Mehmet. 2017. Food Can Fix It: The Superfood Switch to Fight Fat, Defy Aging, and Eat Your Way Healthy<\/em>. New York: Scribner.<\/p>\n

Perricone, Nicholas. 2005. The Perricone Promise: Look Younger, Live Longer in Three Easy Steps<\/em>. New York: Grand Central Publishing.<\/p>\n

Petitto, Melissa. 2019. Superfood Acai Recipes: 40 Natural and Super-Easy Smoothie and Bowl Recipes. <\/em>New York: Crestline.<\/p>\n

Sambazon. n.d. \u201cDiscover the Benefits of A\u00e7a\u00ed.\u201d Accessed March 22, 2020. https:\/\/www.sambazon.com\/discover-acai.<\/p>\n

Skinner, Margot and Denise Hunter, eds. 2013 Bioactives in Fruit: Health Benefits and Functional Foods<\/em>. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.<\/p>\n

Images:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fig. 1. A\u00e7a\u00ed smoothie bowl by Shari\u2019s Berries. Available from: Flickr Commons, https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/sharisberries\/33343287432\/in\/photolist-2ahDtTk-LwFo8K- NahEqS-N8pgB2-2ggEzkR-SNr4G5-MDgGLq-wHYMw-7Wb68R-2ggESpV-2ggEouW\/ (accessed March 22, 2020).<\/p>\n

Fig. 2. Cover of Superfood Acai Recipes: 40 Natural and Super-Easy Smoothie and Bowl Recipes <\/em>by Melissa Petitto. Available from: Google Books, www.books.google.com\/books\/about\/Superfood_Acai_Recipes.html?id=Pu2ODwAAQBAJ (accessed March 22, 2020).<\/p>\n

Fig. 3. Advertising campaign for Health Warrior bars by Elevation Advertising. Available from: Elevation Advertising, http:\/\/www.elevationadvertising.com\/brand-platform-superfood\/ (accessed March 22, 2020<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week we are featuring work from students in Val Ryan’s class The Science of Food and Cooking (MET ML619). Today’s post comes from Gastronomy student Mara Sassoon. A\u00e7a\u00ed: by now, the purple Brazilian berry is ubiquitous in the United States. Most often, it is found in the form of a frozen pulp that is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2776,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,10,27,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9458"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2776"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9458"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9465,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9458\/revisions\/9465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}