Just that mention alone was enough to provoke an avalanche of açai products advertising Oprah’s seal of approval (which then provoked Oprah and Dr. Oz to file suit against over 40 companies).

This wasn’t the first mention of a "superfood" (the term has been around at least since the 2003 publication of the bestseller Superfoods Rx), but it signalled the multinational rise of the "functional foods" industry (an umbrella term for food with an extra health-boosting ingredient).

“The global functional food and drinks market was worth an estimated $43.27 billion in 2013,” explains Jonathan Thomas, Principal Market Analyst at Leatherhead Food Research tells Hopes&Fears. “Value sales have increased by almost 27% compared with 2009.” He notes that this figure is limited to certain parts of the world, i.e. the five major Western European countries, the United States, Japan and Australia. If you include energy drinks and mood-enhancing products, the global market value increases to just over $61 billion. Today, more than 2,000 book results come up when you search for “superfood” on Amazon.

Nobody is positive how superfoods entered the American consciousness. Some believe it was TV ratings; others say doctors discovered miracle berries in the Himalayan mountains. In any case, tracking the genesis leads through a long history of snake oils, drug trade, marketing strategies, and leaves almost no corner of the world untouched.

Wonder ads

It turns out that "superfoods" are basically interchangable with "American food marketing." The idea of miracle foods goes, at least, all the way back to the late 19th century when Coca-Cola was first introduced as an "intellectual beverage" (a nerve tonic, stimulant, and headache medicine) thanks to its cocaine content. C.W. Post branded Grape Nuts as “a food for brain and nerve centers” in 1909. Ovaltine was marketed as a nerve-strengthener in the 1910s, a sleep aid in the Great Depression, and an energizer in the fifties.