'Superfood' Acai May Not Be Worth Price

Marketing Hype

"Most [weight loss] claims I am aware of are not validated at all," said Susanne Talcott, a Texas A&M researcher who conducted a human study that showed acai is absorbed by the body and has the potential to bring some health benefits.

"[The study] is a good start, but no basis for some of the outrageous claims that are made and unfortunately believed by consumers," she said.

Indeed, my husband and I were beginning to wonder when the weight was going to fall off. At the end of the first week, I had lost only 1 pound. My husband wouldn't divulge his numbers, but I'd say he puffed up.

"Invariably, as is the case with these products, the hype gets way ahead of the science," said Dr. David Katz, associate clinical professor of public health and medicine at Yale University. "You get more bang for the buck by just eating more fruits and vegetables."

While there is some merit to the rich antioxidant content of exotic fruits such as acai, consumers can get the same punch in dark chocolate and an array of other foods, such as oranges, tomatoes and blueberries, according to Katz.

"There really are two fallacies: one is that we can package the benefits of a food into a supplement - that often doesn't work," he said. "The second is that just because a food is high in antioxidants, it will translate into unique health benefits. We have no evidence of that either."

Consumers tend to think that "if an antioxidant juice like acai is good, then more must be better," he said. "You'll be able to leap tall buildings with a single bound, sprout wings and compete with Einstein."

Well, all we were was constipated. And still fat. And feeling ripped off.

"This is age-old, like snake oil salesmen off the horse-drawn wagons," Katz said. "But in modern times, we are even more eager for a quick fix. If all the marketing industry needed to do was tell the truth, everyone on Madison Avenue would be looking for work."

We were looking for the number of our bank to get a new debit card.

Days later, we were billed $29.95 by a company called Fit Factory. When we called its toll-free number, we were told that "we have nothing to do with acai," but by accepting the trial offer, we had been automatically enrolled in a fitness Web site and would continue to be sent the product and be billed monthly until we canceled the order.

Our bank said it couldn't remove the charge, but Fit Factory's customer service offered to credit our bank account. We received the credit today.

When asked about the company's business practices, Braybon Spier of Fit Factory said, "We do get phone calls like this from time to time."

Spier said people don't read the "fine print" when placing their acai orders. "But we do have a lot of satisfied customers who have lost weight. I personally use it myself."

So I returned to the original Web site and called the manufacturer. In my excitement ordering acai, I must have inadvertently glazed over the "terms of agreement," which advised us to call and cancel our order within 14 days, or we'd be charged $89.31 every 31 days for a new supply of acai.

But there was no mention of a $29.95 Fit Factory membership.

And now Oz, whose name is associated with nearly every Web ad for acai, said Oprah's lawyers have been contacting some of the companies that sell acai.