The Cranberry is a native North American fruit that typically grows in bogs.

A member of the same family as blueberry and bilberry, the Pilgrims called the fruit “cranberry” because the stem and flower resembled the head, neck and beak of a crane. The juice of the fruit is acidic and astringent, which makes it difficult to drink at full strength. Cranberries can also be processed into fresh fruit, concentrate, sauce products and juice drinks.

Cranberries offer a wealth of health benefits. They contain proanthocyanidins (PACs), or condensed tannins, that can act to block the adhesion of infection-causing E. coli bacteria within the urinary tract.

Recent scientific research shows that cranberries and cranberry products also contain significant amounts of antioxidants and other phytonutrients. In fact, one study reports that cranberries contain more antioxidant phenols than 19 other commonly eaten fruits.¹⁴