Raspberry ketones are the newest miracle-food fad, and the industrial food world is gearing up to make millions by hawking it to you.
The question is: are raspberry ketones just another health food quasi-scam, or is it really "the No. 1 miracle in a bottle to burn your fat" per Dr. Mehmet Oz?
The Rise and Fall of Acai Berry
Remember acai berry, the ultra-hyped extract of a violet-hued berry from a Brazilian palm species? Marketers claimed that acai's antioxidants provided a near-endless plethora of wellness benefits including:
- weight loss
- anti-aging properties
- lowered cholesterol and triglycerides
- killing cancer cells
- possible reversal of diabetes
We're livid when car dealers attempt to lure us with bait-and-switch scams. We speak our minds forcefully when we get suckered into any fraud, major or miniscule, be it from useless coupons or crummy products to services that don't deliver.
Sears was actually forced by the FTC, in 1974, to "cease and desist" using deceptive tactics to draw customers into stores, then "switch their focus to products other than the advertised bargains." For the sake of sales and profits, of course.
So why, then, do we allow fast food mega-corporations to deliberately fool us with the specter of fresh, healthy salads, when most of their mouth-watering "salad" concoctions are among the highest-calorie, saltiest, least healthy menu items?
Make no mistake: their ruse is long-pondered, finely-plotted corporate-level sales strategy.
Busy, beleaguered parents or grandparents of young kids are far more likely to order from McDonald's, Arby's Taco Bell, Jack-in-the-Box, KFC, and the like if they can order healthier for themselves. Or believe they are ordering healthier... The reality is jarring:
