How Blueberries Became a Superfood

Thanks to savvy marketing, science, and luck, blueberries helped usher in a new era of health food obsession.

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Doug Bierend

Illustration by Sarah Tanat-Jones.

In December 1996, John Sauve, then-executive director of the Wild Blueberry Association of North America (WBANA), received an unexpected fax. It contained an article from the latest issue of AgResearch titled: “Plant Pigments Paint a Rainbow of Antioxidants.”

At first, Sauve wasn’t sure what to make of the article.

Like most people at the time, he had no real idea what antioxidants were: they were only just starting to enter the public consciousness, thanks to the emergence of mutually supportive research and marketing.
Sauve definitely didn’t know they would soon become fundamental to the public perception of wild blueberries, which are smaller, more flavorful, and less common than the cultivated highbush blueberry familiar to most shoppers.

Back then, blueberries weren’t seen by many consumers as an especially healthy fruit. They were just something you put in a pie. You found them in the supermarket next to the whipped cream.

In 1994, Sauve gave a presentation on the five points of appeal he’d identified for wild blueberries—none of them were related to nutrition.
“We were still trying to sell blueberries because they taste good inside of muffins, and we were doing OK with that,” he says in a droll Maine accent.
“Health wasn’t even on the radar screen.”

Poring over the AgResearch article, Sauve learned about a new assay test being used at Tufts University called ORAC (short for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity), which ranked blueberries number one in terms of antioxidant activity.

By this point, antioxidant compounds were known to be a factor in reducing oxidative stress, the potentially harmful overaccumulation of negatively charged atoms called free radicals. While blueberries’ place at the top of the results wasn’t clearly stated in the article, Sauve connected the dots. “I said, ‘Hey, we came out first!’” he recalls. “I had no idea what we had won, but it sounded good.”

The next day, Sauve was on the phone with Ronald Prior, who led the research at Tufts. Soon, he was meeting with Prior in Boston, along with neuroscientists Barbara Shukitt-Hale and the late James Joseph, lead author of the 2003 book The Color Code: A Revolutionary Eating Plan for Optimum Health.

It became clear they had a story to tell: that blueberries carried exceptional amounts of this health-helping thing called antioxidants.
There was no guarantee that the message would resonate, but WBANA bet on it anyway.
“We threw our hat into the ring with health,” Sauve says, “and invested most of our money in that area.”

Savvy promotion of the fruit was about to help usher in an era of health food obsession that we’re still living in today. No longer mere tasty treat or part of a balanced diet, blueberries would become known as cancer combatants, inflammation interceptors, defenders of cognitive function—each berry a nutritional Navy SEAL.

A superfood was born. . ."

[. . .]

More recent tests involving human subjects suggest that the compounds can help lower blood pressure and reduce degradations in mobility in older adults.

Seeking to set wild blueberries apart from cultivated blueberries, researchers are looking into the specific health implications of the former’s extra density of phytochemicals, defensive compounds credited for their resilience to harsh climates.
There is some dispute over whether the difference is meaningful.

Still, all of this was accomplished without much messaging from anyone as to what antioxidants actually do.

But much of the ballyhooed benefits of antioxidant-rich foods in general are tough to pin down.

Research into the potential merits of antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-carotene seem contrary to the findings of berry-funded research.
There is even research to suggest that certain antioxidant activity can work against one’s health.

Eventually, use of the assay ORAC to upsell antioxidants became so widespread that in 2010, the U.S. Department of Agriculture stopped publishing results from the test “due to mounting evidence that the values indicating antioxidant capacity have no relevance” to definite effects on human health.

(For what it’s worth, Sauve thinks the USDA was reacting to misinterpretations first put forward by unscrupulous raisin salesmen.)

For its part, WBANA and its marketing partners are evolving strategies by shifting focus to anthocyanins—the fruit’s complex pigmented compounds—and their anti-inflammatory potential.

Promoting flavor, which was cast aside in the ’90s to focus on the health story, is also coming back in style for wild blueberries as “real,” “raw,” and “wild” foods gain market traction.
WBANA’s new target is the fast-growing “lifestyles of health and sustainability” consumer category, a much sought-after demographic first described by sociologist Paul Ray and psychologist Sherry Anderson.
These consumers don’t just prefer healthier food—they also seek food that is high-quality, minimally processed, and environmentally sustainable.
That means appealing to broader wellness sensibilities, as well as certain benefits suggested by research.

But perhaps consumers should just focus on the value of eating more whole fruits and vegetables in general.

As Shukitt-Hale will attest, the case for wild blueberries is not as cut-and-dried as saying that antioxidants are good for you.
“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” she says.
“There’s something about the synergy of that whole food and the compounds in it.
So, when people say, ‘What is the active ingredient,’ I hate that question, because I don’t think there is an ‘active ingredient.’”

If you’re looking for antioxidants, after all, you can find them in all kinds of fruit.

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“The nutrient claims for blueberries are not specious; they are just overhyped,” Nestle says.
“Blueberries are nutritious and delicious.
What blueberry trade associations are doing is simply marketing.”

Ultimately, the reason for eating blueberries—or any fruit or vegetable—probably shouldn’t require a scientist’s explanation.

“It never occurred to me to think about the phytochemical composition,” says Nestle, who grows her own cultivated blueberries at home.
“I just love the way they taste.”

Doug Bierend is a Brooklyn-based writer interested in food, fungi, sustainability, technology, media, and culture.