Where to Purchase Acai Products

Since 2005, acai (ah-SIGH-ee) and various products made from this Amazonian fruit have become popular. Because the media and consumers have generated much excitement and market demand, some marketers have come on board for a quick profit, often with inferior products and questionable sales practices. It's wise to check out these products carefully before buying.

Comparing Standards

• Check the label to see if the first ingredient is acai fruit. "Acai juice" may be a blend of inexpensive juices, like apple or grape, with a small amount of acai. Some makers stretch the acai by adding over 50 percent other ingredients.

  Check out the label to see if the acai fruit in the product has been freeze-dried soon after being harvested; the fruit can start to deteriorate and lose its nutritional value very quickly.

  Buy only from reputable vendors and be willing to pay a fair price. If it's cheap, it was likely produced cheaply--but a high price doesn't mean the product is superior. Keep comparing until you're satisfied that you are getting a quality product at a reasonable price.

  Stay away from "free trial offers" that require subscription. Often this is a trick marketing experts use to hook you into automatic monthly charges on your credit or debit card. Often the products are inferior too.

  Be wary of sellers who make unsupported health claims, or weight-loss and anti-aging promises.

  Seek out acai products that are certified organic by the USDA. Your best products will be free of pesticides and preservatives.

The Choices

• Many health-food stores stock various acai products. Some chain grocery stores do also if they have an extensive food supplements section. By comparing various products and checking with the standards noted above, you could select quality acai products near your home.

Target

• At Target.com there are several brands of acai in juice and capsule form. Most are made from the extract powder rather than freeze-dried fruit pulp and none claim to be organic.

  Target

  target.com

Walmart

• Walmart sells Spring Valley Acai, 100 capsules of 500 mg at $9 per bottle. The maker describes its process as neither flash-freezing nor drying, but as natural wild harvested. Before the end of the harvesting day, the seed is removed. Then the remainder of the "berry" is placed in water and the mixture is frozen into a "slurry." This is then hauled to a manufacturing plant in southern Brazil for extraction of the active ingredients.

  Walmart

  walmart.com

GNC

• Nature's Secret® Acai Power Berry Pure-Body Cleanse™ is GNC's primary brand. The Acai extract is 4:1. Added ingredients include powders of blueberry, cranberry, mangosteen, pomegranate, cascara sagrade, slippery elm and ginger bark. A 14-day supply is about $20.

  GNC

  gnc.com

Costco

• "Braz a Vie" brand is "90% Pure Acai Berry" with no filler juices or water. The remaining 10 percent is organic evaporated cane juice and citric acid or malic acid (used to retain flavor). Cost for a 30-ounce bottle is $20.

  Costco

  costco.com

Swanson's Health Products

• Swanson's Vitamins offers 41 different acai products: six of its own and 35 from other manufacturers. Its own brand, "Triple Strength Acai Berry Extract," is 75 mg of acai fruit, in a 20:1 extract. A bottle of 60 softgel capsules sells for about $6. Its "Ultra Acai Liquid" is reconstituted acai fruit, 12 grams per 100 grams of total blend. Other ingredients are purified water and mixed berry juice. A 32-ounce bottle sells for $10.

  Swanson's Health Products

  P.O. Box 2803

  Fargo, ND 58108

  1-800-824-4491

  swansonvitamins.com

Vitacost

• Vitacost's markets "NSI Acai Berry Extract"--120 capsules of 1,000 mg. Their formula contains a minimum of 10% phenolic acid (from 5:1 fruit extract). This product is about $11. Vitacost also carries "Smart Basics Organic Certified Acai Berry Gold 100% Pure Juice"--32 fl oz. at $17. This contains: Organic certified Acai juice from whole Euterpe Oleracea berry including Epicarp (outer skin), Mesocarp (pulpy berry meat) and the Endocarp (acai berry seeds). It is also free of added sugar, artificial flavors and colors.

  Vitacost

  130 Lexington Parkway

  Lexington, NC 27295

  1-800-381-0759

  vitacost.com