Acai Berry Products: 10 Things You Need to Know

Before Buying
By WRC - November 2007

 

Does it really matter where you buy your Acai Berry products? Absolutely! Are all Acai products created equal? No way! There so many factors that go into the processing of the Acai Berry, that customers should know what to look for before buying!

 

Given the sudden popularity of this purple gem, many companies are jumping on the band wagon to produce as many Acai products as they can. That means the consumer needs to do their homework to find a manufacturer that hasn’t taken any shortcuts in their processing and ingredients. If we are not careful, we could end up with a product that has lost its active properties, is full of fillers or has unwanted chemicals.

 

Before purchasing Acai, make sure the product lines up with these standards:

 

1) Certified Organic Ingredients. When using non-organic fruits, you could be exposed to pesticides and other chemicals. A legitimate company will produce a certificate to prove their product is Certified Organic. Non-organic antioxidant products can contain chemical pesticides, herbicides and other toxins.

 

2) Acai Must Be Processed Within 24 Hours. Safely transporting this little gem, often called The Crown Jewel of the Amazon, across the world is not an easy task! This highly potent berry starts losing its active properties within 24 hours of being picked. As you can imagine, for companies that care about producing a quality product, this is no simple feat.

 

3) Acai and Other Ingredients That Are Not Processed in China. Many products on the market today are processed in China, where they are known for using harsh chemicals and they do not have any regulations for pesticide use, nor do they have organic guidelines. Acai processing plants in China often use unregulated soy, fillers and/or chemicals in the extraction process.

 

4) Freeze-Dried and Not Spray Dried Acai. To preserve the berry’s nutrients, Acai must be freeze-dried. Spray drying involves heating the berries at high temperatures, which destroys the active properties. In this process, they are also sprayed with a carrier such as maltodextrin to dry them out. When this occurs, a large portion of the resulting Acai powder is actually maltodextrin.  

 

5) Acai Should Never Be Overheated. During normal pasteurization, high heat is involved. Any Acai juice product should only be flash-pasteurized, which does not harm the enzyme level of the berry and is FDA approved.

 

6) No Fillers Such as Soy or Maltodextrin in Processing. During the extraction of the pulp from the pit, fillers, chemicals and carriers should not be used. These items used in the manufacturing process remain a part of the end product, but are not required to be listed on the label because they are not considered to be an “added ingredient.”

7) No Fillers or Water Added to the Product. Adding fillers makes the Acai fluffier and bulks it up, so you are not getting as much Acai. Check the label for such fillers as soy, corn, maltodextrin, water and lots of other concentrated fruit juices. After all, when we buy Acai, we want Acai.

8) No Added Sugar, Artificial sweeteners, Fructose or Stimulants. Look to see that the Acai does not have added sugar. Sugar is not good for our immune systems, weight and it can cause inflammation. Also, some products may have added stimulants like caffeine or guarana.

9) No Chemical Preservatives. If we are seeking a nutritional product for our health, why would we want to consume chemicals along with it? For example, Sodium Benzoate appears in our soda and snack cakes, but why would we want it in our health foods? In 2006, the FDA re-opened their investigations into the use of Sodium Benzoate in soft drinks, because of the discovery of the breakdown into Benzene that can occur when mixed with ascorbic acid (vitamin C).

 

10) ORAC Lab Testing Done on Actual Product. Make sure the company’s reported ORAC (antioxidant) levels are based upon tests done on their actual Acai product and not just reports from Acai right off the tree. Just because Acai Berries have a high ORAC score when picked, does not mean it still does after the manufacturing.

 

As we can see, not all Acai products are created equal. In fact, a person will have a hard time finding Acai that can measure up to all 10 standards! So far, we have only found one Acai product line that passes all of these tests and that is Amazon Thunder!

 

Resources and Further Reading:

 

Pure Acai from Amazon Thunder Amazon Thunder

 

AmazonAcaiBerry.net - All about the Acai Berry www.AmazonAcaiBerry.net  

 

FDA re-opens probe into benzene contamination of soft drinks - by Chris Mercer, 2/15/2006 www.foodnavigator-usa.com/news/ng.asp?n=65840-soft-drinks-fda-benzene

 

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