Cranberry powder with 10 times the kick

Chr Hansen has launched NutriPhy Cranberry, a powder standardised to contain at least 4% of the proanthocyanidins that reduce the adhesion of certain E. coli bacteria to the urinary tract walls.

The powder will be targeted at the supplements sector, said Dr Celine Aubert, technical industry manager for dietary supplements at Chr Hansen. "We extracted the nuclear of the cranberry and made a product that is more than 10 times more concentrated compared to the cranberry itself."

Research published in the journal Phytomedicine suggests that the cranberry - well known for its high antioxidant levels and ability to fight infections in the urinary tract, mouth and stomach, could also display anti-viral properties.

Cranberry juice from Ocean Spray reduced the infectivity of viruses such as bacteriophages by up to 92%, compared to reductions of 25-35% for orange and grapefruits juice, said the New York-based researchers.