The Goji Scam

Goji berries are your normal Lycium berries.

The following is gleaned from a recent discussion on a mailing list for herbalists:

1) Both Lycium eleagnus pungens and Lycium eleagnus barbarum are manufactured names; there is no such thing, botanically. The berry sold under those names is your normal Lycium barbarum or wolfberry.
2) There is no such thing as wild Tibetan goji berries. These, too, are normal Lycium barbarum berries. Ditto for Himalayan goji.
3) The so-called Tibetan-grown goji berries are a) normal lycium berries (Lycium barbarum), and b) Mongolian-grown, like the rest of the Lycium berries on the market.
4) Lycium is in the Solanaceae (nightshade family). Elaeagnus is in the Elaeagnaceae (oleaster family). They are not related, nor have they been each other's synonyms.
5) You can buy lycium berries (Lycium barbarum) in bulk herb stores at $7-$10 a pound. Good quality lycium berries are the same stuff that is sold as goji for a far higher price. By the way, sulphured lycium berries are bright red-orange, and they are not good quality.
6) The statement that Chinese-grown Lycium berries are pesticide-laden is just commercial competitor-bashing. If somebody tries to tell you that ask them for the lab reports.

The name "goji berry" comes of course from the Chinese name for lycium: Gou Qi Zi. It helps to know that qi is pronounced "chi".

There. Now, don't get hoodwinked, don't hop onto bandwagons, and don't buy goji berries. Buy unsulphured lycium berries instead. Your wallet will thank you.

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Update: Before you decide to comment on this post: nobody but me will ever see your pro-himalayan-goji propaganda here, and I only read the first two or three lines of your comment before I push the "delete" button. Like this: clicky clicky.
Because I won't let any MLM scammers hawk their wares on my blog. So shoo. And do stay away, there's a good scammer.
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Update: Comments are now closed.

Aye, let's get the word out.

Aye, let's get the word out.

Thanks, John - nice

Thanks, John - nice pictures. The picture from Cambridge looks quite a lot like shoofly plant (Nicandra physalodes), though.

Nice catch, Darcey.

Nice catch, Darcey.

Oh yes. Lots: "Super Blue,

Oh yes. Lots: "Super Blue, Green, Yellow Magnetic Volcanic Colloidal Nino Juice"
... it's exotic, it's expensive, it's hyped all the way to Saturnus and back - it's a scam. If you want flavonoids, eat your local dark fruit and berries. They're cheaper, tastier, and work as well.

Awww. Poor pet. And you

Awww. Poor pet. And you can't even print out and give him this blogpost ...

... you have my sympathies. Not.

Of course, now that I've made fun of you here you can't print out the blogpost anymore, cos then your dad (if he exists - I expect your story is fabricated) would see you being ridiculed.

Moral of the story: don't spout random vileness at strangers, cos you might just get slapped on the fingers for it.

Oooh. Boyo, do I have lots

Oooh. Boyo, do I have lots of other bandwagons for you to hop onto!

... do at least try out the Chinatown Lycium berries before you slam them. They are the same as your overhyped overexpensive rigorously grown and extremely exotic goji berries.

Now shoo, the grownups are busy.

Thanks for that, Jake. Earl

Thanks for that, Jake. Earl Mindell, eh? Good to know that, too.

dulcinea: sorry, I'm not an

dulcinea: sorry, I'm not an USAian TCM practitioner with a net of quality wholesalers; I'm a western herbalist in Europe, and use western herbs.
Ken: species of TCM herbs can be iffy, yes, but in addition botanists change their minds all the time: some are lumpers, others are splitters, and what I might think of as all one species somebody else splits into a few hundred ...

The title of the post is

The title of the post is "the goji scam". Did you even read the post?
Yes, it's a MLM (multi-level marketing) scam.
Yes, Lycium berries have been used for centuries in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine).
No, buying it for lotsamoney doesn't mean that they're anything beyond their TCM use - a nice flavonoid-rich fruit.
Buy Lycium berries, ditch the goji scam.

Lycium berries work, within

Lycium berries work, within their TCM framework.
"Goji juice"? How much lycium berries are even in there? Ditch the idea already.

Thanks for that, chinkerpin.

Thanks for that, chinkerpin.

Hmm, you might want to buy

Hmm, you might want to buy an ounce each and tell us about the difference, if any.
Thanks.

Perhaps, and this is only a

Perhaps, and this is only a thought, but just maybe people scream "scam!" at the goji juice scam because it actually is a scam?

In other words, have you even tried goji berries instead of the overpriced oversugared MLM juice? No? Thought so.

I've lots of other bandwagons for you to jump onto. Here, try these toxic metals, they'll cure all your cancers within three weeks ...

Greg? The Goji scam is the

Greg? The Goji scam is the goji juice scam.

I've seen one or the other

I've seen one or the other Lycium species in the SW US desert. If that's not what you're after, ask the Chinese.

That's nice.

That's nice.

Thanks for that, Ken.

Thanks for that, Ken.

Aye. If it sounds too good

Aye. If it sounds too good to be true it usually is.

40 $? Owie ...

40 $? Owie ...

2 years? Owie.

2 years? Owie.

Thanks again, Ken.

Thanks again, Ken.

Thanks Kevin. Way to go,

Thanks Kevin. Way to go, Casey.

Thanks Ken,

Thanks Ken, celebdrive.
That's nice, DolphinSpeaker.

I've replied here.

I've replied here.

Thanks for that, Kathi!

Thanks for that, Kathi!

Have'em ban cayenne (or

Have'em ban cayenne (or chili), eggplant, tomatoes, and paprika as well. They're all solanaceous fruit.

As to information fighting against ignorance, well, the opposition has far larger budgets than herbalists have. Add to that that there's quite a lot of MLM scams which cash in on the herbal craze, and well, I'm content to keep my own corner clean.

If you really want to do something, do grassroots things. Write non-hysterically about herbs in glossies and newspapers, do herbal classes, that sort of thing. That's what I do. In Finland, which probably is far stricter than Denmark on this whole "herb" lark.