LAKEVILLE-MIDDLEBORO, Mass. (December 12, 2016) – Ocean Spray today announced the launch of Cranberry +health^TM juice drink to hospitals, managed-care facilities and retirement homes across the United States as a potential nutritional approach to help reduce urinary tract infections (UTIs). UTIs are the second most common infection, and catheter-associated UTIs (CAUTIs) are the most common healthcare-associated infection, with significant associated costs. Studies have shown that cranberries can be an effective method in reducing UTIs, including CAUTIs.

Cranberry +health^TM may be part of a more holistic solution to help lower healthcare costs associated with UTIs and CAUTIs, by reducing the occurrence of those infections, said Christina Khoo, Ph.D., Director of Global Health Sciences and Regulatory Affairs at Ocean Spray. This exciting new product gives healthcare providers a potential nutritional alternative for their patients that can help manage UTIs.

A study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology showed that cranberries reduced the rate of UTI by about half among women undergoing elective benign gynecological surgery who needed urinary catheterization. CAUTIs, the number one hospital-acquired infection, cost the U.S. healthcare system $450 million annually. They affect over 560,000 patients and are responsible for 13,000 deaths a year. With nearly 25 percent of hospitalized patients receiving urinary catheters during their hospital stay, CAUTIs are a growing concern for healthcare providers.

In a clinical study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN), the Cranberry +health^TM formula was shown to reduce symptomatic UTIs by nearly 40 percent in women who drank eight ounces per day. It contains the highest concentration of cranberry compounds available among Ocean Spray® juice products on the market.

One 8-ounce (240 mL) serving of Cranberry +health^TM product is made with 120 milligrams of proanthocyanidins (PACs)¹ with only 35 calories and 6 grams of sugar. More than 50 years of well-documented research has shown that cranberries contain a unique combination of compounds, including PACs, which can be an effective method in preventing UTIs through their ability to block the bacteria that cause them.

Cranberry +health^TM product is currently available through major foodservice distributors.

About Cranberry Health Benefits

For more than 85 years, Ocean Spray has been actively researching the cranberry’s unique healthy benefits to deliver products that not only taste good, but are good for you. Cranberries are an exceptional fruit that provide one-of-a-kind health benefits. Besides helping consumers meet the recommended daily intake of fruit, consuming cranberries may be a nutritional approach in helping to reduce certain infections in the urinary tract and stomach. This is increasingly important as the bacteria that cause these infections are becoming highly resistant to the strongest antibiotics used to treat them, fueling what the World Health Organization believes is one of the greatest challenges to public health today – antibiotic resistance. For more information about cranberries and your health, visit www.cranberryhealth.com.

About Ocean Spray

Ocean Spray is a vibrant agricultural cooperative owned by more than 700 cranberry and grapefruit growers in the United States, Canada and Chile who have helped preserve the family farming way of life for generations. Formed in 1930, Ocean Spray is now the world’s leading producer of cranberry juices, juice drinks and dried cranberries and is the best-selling brand in the North American bottled juice category. The cooperative’s cranberries are currently featured in more than a thousand great-tasting, good-for-you products in over 100 countries worldwide. With more than 2,000 employees and nearly 20 cranberry receiving and processing facilities, Ocean Spray is committed to managing our business in a way that respects our communities, employees and the environment. For more information visit: www.oceanspray.com or www.oceanspray.coop.

¹Calculated using the Ocean Spray DMAC Method

References:

Please visit www.cranberryhealth.com/sources