Fruit d’Or Nutraceuticalsis subjecting every lot of its Cran Naturelle and Cran d’Or ingredients to anti-adhesion activity (AAA) testing, which reveals efficacy against UTI-causing pathogenic bacteria, according to a press release that citesa study from Rutgers Universityshowing that cranberry PACs help inhibitE. coli’sability to adhere to epithelial cells in the urinary tract.

“Recent testing has called into question the efficacy of some cranberry products," Stephen Lukawski, Director of Sales and Business Development for Fruit d’Or, noted in the release. "There is a strong need to raise the bar of quality to protect manufacturers and consumers. AAA testing is the best solution for bringing more confidence and stronger credibility to our products and industry.”

Calling AAA testing a “game changer” for the cranberry industry, Lukawski added that methods that test for proanthocyanidins (PACs), cranberry components that can help protect against UTIs, are only part of the story—these tests he says, can be fooled by foreign contaminants, such as grape skin or green tea. AAA testing cannot be.

Lukawski said in the release: “We want to create more awareness that this AAA assay is the first step toward confirming efficacy. It’s a unique assay understood within the cranberry industry to relate structure to function. This line of research is so important that we’re also inviting manufacturers to participate in the next step, which is a human preclinical study. Participating companies will then be able to use study results to promote their own products and separate themselves from the competition.”