the.com/superfood

A marketing degree pretending to be a nutrition label.

means A food marketed as exceptionally nutrient-dense or health-boosting, a label with no official scientific or regulatory definition.

from Built simply from 'super' (Latin super, 'above, beyond') plus 'food' — the word itself is the giveaway, a 20th-century marketing coinage rather than a scientific term. It crept into popular use through advertising copy and health journalism long before nutritionists had any say in it, which is why regulators in places like the EU have cracked down on the term unless backed by actual approved health claims. The irony: the word was built to sound scientific precisely because it isn't.

legal status
banned as a label on food packaging in the EU
word origin
united fruit co. used it to sell bananas, 1920s
kale's secret
spinach and broccoli match it nutritionally, minus the hype
real driver
usually just antioxidants, fiber, and good publicity
the.com · every word