Cran-Max boosts PAC content to 7.2 percent
Dean Mosca, president of PNI, said the improvement is “significant, because one 500mg capsule of Cran-Max will now provide 36mg of PAC, meeting the French Food Safety Authority, (AFSSA), function claim requirements for urinary tract health.”
PACs are also not exclusive to cranberries, but can be found in a range of foods, including green tea, grapes, apples, and chocolate. However, the main type of PACs in cranberry – called A-type PACs - are different from those in these other source – called B-type PACs. Only cranberry PACs may prevent bacterial adhesion.
The French health claim, issued in 2004, for the North American cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) with at least 36 milligrams of PAC to “help reduce the adhesion of certain E. coli bacteria to the urinary tract walls”, and subsequently fight urinary tract infections (UTIs).
There are several methods for measuring PACs that deliver vastly different results. The French health claim refers to 36 milligrams of PACs measured using the 4-dimethylaminocinnamaldehyde (DMAC) method.
According to Mosca, the PAC content for the new Cran-Max ingredient was determined by the measure of absorbency after total hydrolysis and extraction, and not the DMAC method.
Health claim
This summer saw PNI’s Cran-Max ingredient receive approval from the Korean Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) for it to be marketed in that market as a “functional ingredient that is helpful for urinary tract health”.
Cran-Max is a whole berry concentrate made using a proprietary process that utilizes all parts of the fruit, including the skin, seeds, pulp, juice and fiber.
According to PNI, it does not contain solvent, preservative, sugars, water, flavorings or color.
Last month, the Commissioner of the KFDA noted in official documents that Cran-Max is an “approved functional food ingredient according to Article 10 of the Regulation on Approval of Functional Ingredient for Health Functional Food.”
