Consumers sceptical about superfoods, but eat them 'just in case'

Research from the University of Adelaide shows Australian consumers consume superfoods for a bit of ‘extra insurance’ for their health, despite being sceptical about their value.

Jessica Loyer from the University’s Food Values Research Group has researched superfood production, consumption and discourse in Australia, conducting focus groups with Australian consumers and visiting local producers of the superfood maca in Peru as part of her research.

“The term ‘superfood’ started appearing on items in Australian supermarkets in the late 1990s, and since then consumers have appeared to become much more conscious of the nutritional content of food,’ Loyer said.

“The word ‘superfood’ itself is a creation of marketing and media, and on the surface it seems easy to dismiss the entire concept as a clever marketing ploy aimed at duping gullible consumers. But in fact, the history and use of superfoods globally goes much deeper than that, and the reasons for their popular appeal today are more than just superficial,” she said.

Loyer said consumers are drawn to superfoods because they are seen to be somewhere in between food and medicine. This quality was part of the allure of superfoods, she said, but consumers are confused by what’s on offer, what benefits they might provide, how much to consume and many other aspects of their production and origins.

“For example, superfoods are often considered to be linked with the ‘exotic’ or ‘primitive’ and their consumption, in a way, is a rejection of highly processed food that consumers have been exposed to for many decades. Despite this, most consumers are unaware of the kinds of processing that superfoods themselves undergo,” said Loyer.

The taste of superfoods also did not play an important role in consumers’ decisions to purchase them. These foods are often consumed in smoothies, where they are blended together into a meal that is considered to be part multivitamin and part preventative medicine.

Loyer said most consumers express scepticism towards superfood health claims and understand that they are being ‘sold an image’. “Nevertheless, consumers are happy to succumb to a bit of magical thinking and eat superfoods as a sort of extra insurance, because they believe that these foods might help their health, and probably can’t hurt,” she said.

“We shouldn’t forget that superfoods are real agricultural products that are produced, transformed and consumed by real people, that they play an important role in the global food economy — they’re not just an invention of marketing spin.”