The science behind Pacran™

The clinically proven cranberry ingredient

Pacran™ provides clinically proven health benefits for the urinary tract supported by gold-standard science. The benefits of Pacran™ are backed by a body of high-quality research, including two peer-reviewed publications of human clinical studies.

health claims worldwide¹¹⁻¹⁴

58%

relative risk reduction in UTIs over 6 months¹²

Reduction of E.coli adhesion activity

Pacran’s™ E. coli reduction of adhesion activity was established in multiple ex vivo studies.⁴ ⁷⁻¹⁰ A clinical study demonstrated that Pacran™ has the ability to lower urinary E. coli load, which is one of the mechanisms of action to reduce symptoms in women with active UTIs.⁸

Women with a history of urinary tract infections

One clinical study looked specifically at women with a history of urinary tract infections. Among those who consumed Pacran™ for six months, there was a reduction in UTI incidence, longer time to first UTI, and reduced average number of UTIs compared to those who were given a placebo.⁹

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Women with a history of recurrent urinary tract infections

Pacran™ was studied in a population of women with a history of recurrent UTI (defined as ≥2 acute UTIs within 6 months or at least 3 within a year). Pacran™ consumption led to a significant reduction in culture-confirmed UTIs, longer time to first culture positive UTI, reduction in average number of UTI. Additionally, this study was the first Pacran™ study to show reduction in UTI incidence with urinary frequency and urgency symptoms.¹⁰

Together, these two studies on women with a history of UTI offer compelling evidence that the ingredient may not only reduce recurrent UTI but also provide relief from the discomfort often associated with uncomfortable symptoms of UTI, such as; urinary frequency and urinary urgency.¹³ ¹⁴

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As powerful as ‘PAC-heavy’ alternatives

Many competitive cranberry ingredients are built to deliver the maximum amount of cranberry-PACs. These ingredients are quite expensive on a dosage basis as they require multi-stage extraction processes and a costly biomass for extraction. Pacran™ has been shown in an ex vivo study to deliver an E. coli reduction of adhesion activity, similar to cranberry extracts with 20 times more PACs in the short term (0-9 hours) and superior in the longer term (9-36 hours).⁴ These data suggest cranberry based urinary tract health isn’t just about PACs but rather about delivering the right blend of the whole cranberry Pacran™.⁴

Just 500 mg per day of PacranTM has been shown to be sufficient to achieve a positive effect. Furthermore, it delivers similar reduction of adhesion activity to alternatives with a PAC content 20 times higher. This _ex vivo _research also shows that Pacran’sTM reduction of adhesion activity acts rapidly (anti-adhesion), reaching significance in nine hours, and peaking at 24 hours after consumption.⁴

Health claims in four countries

The strength of the scientific evidence for Pacran™’s benefits has led to multiple health claims in four countries:

South Korea

2009: Pacran™ was awarded the country’s first-ever health claim for a branded cranberry ingredient with the claim: “May help to maintain urinary tract health by preventing urinary tract infection.”¹¹

Canada

2014: Health Canada granted Pacran™ a National Product Number authorising claims including “Helps prevent recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women or used in Herbal Medicine to help prevent recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs).”¹²

Colombia

2015: The Colombian authorities granted Pacran™ the claim: “Helps in the management of recurrent UTI.”¹³

USA

2020: the US FDA published a Qualified Health Claim stating the benefits of whole cranberry powder consumption in reducing risk of UTI in healthy women. Our peer-reviewed publication on Pacran™ (Vostalova et al) was one of only three studies supporting the claim and was classed by the FDA as being of high methodological quality.¹⁴

American Urological Association (2022) Recurrent Uncomplicated Urinary Tract Infections in Women: AUA/CUA/SUFU Guideline (2022). Available at: https://www.auanet.org/guidelines-and-quality/guidelines/recurrent-uti _(_assessed January 27, 2022).
Data on file (2021) Givaudan consumer study. Food for Health.
Cranberry Marketing Committee, consumer research survey.
Data on file. Howell A. et al. (2013) Assessment of bacterial anti-adhesion activity of Pacran® in human urine against P-type uropathogenic Escherichia coli.
Flores-Mireles A.L. et al. (2015) ‘Urinary tract infections: epidemiology, mechanisms of infection and treatment options‘. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 13(5): 269-284.
Data on file. Howell A. et al. (2013) ‘Assessment of bacterial anti-adhesion activity of Pacran® in human urine against P-type uropathogenic Escherichia coli. A randomized, placebo-controlled, ex vivo, double-blind, crossover trial’.
De l’Agence française de sécurité sanitaire des aliments d’évaluation des justificatifs concernant l’allégation « contribue à diminuer la fixation de certaines bactéries _E. coli _sur les parois urinaires » pour un nectar/cocktail de jus de cranberry / canneberge. Afssa – Saisine n° 2004-SA-214. 1. Available at: https://www.anses.fr/en/system/files/NUT2006sa0256.pdf (assessed 6 February 2024).
Sengupta, K. et al. (2011) ‘A Randomized, Double Blind, Controlled, Dose Dependent Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Efficacy of a Proanthocyanidin Standardized Whole Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) Powder on Infections of the Urinary Tract’, Current Bioactive Compounds, 7(1):39-46.
Vostalova J. et al. (2015) ‘Are High Proanthocyanidins Key to Cranberry Efficacy in the Prevention of Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection?’, Phytotherapy Research, 29(10):1559-1567.
Stonehouse, Welma et al. (2025) ‘Whole cranberry fruit powder supplement reduces the incidence of culture-confirmed urinary tract infections in females with a history of recurrent urinary tract infection: A 6-month multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial’ The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 121(4): 932 - 941.
S. Korea Food and Drug Administration. Claim wording: May help to maintain urinary tract health by preventing urinary tract infection. 3 November 2019.
Health Canada Natural Product Number 80053151. Claim wording: Helps prevent recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women or used in Herbal Medicine to help prevent recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs). 15 August 2014.
Colombia (INVIMA). Claim wording: Helps in the management of recurrent UTI. 18 November 2015.
US (FDA). 21 July 2020.
Aubrey A. (2010) Bow Down To The Medicinal Power Of Cranberries. Available at: https://www.npr.org/2010/11/12/131272331/bow-down-to-the-medicinal-power-of-cranberries (accessed 15 November 2010).