'Revolutionary' cranberry product targets UTI market

Low-calorie natural management of urinary tract infections (UTI), yeast health, digestive health and immune function are claimed for a new women’s health product launched last week at Expo West.

Cran-Gyn DDS is the result of a partnership between supplement nutrition company Valensa International and probiotics firm UAS Laboratories.

Dr Rudi Moerck, Valensa’s president and CEO, told NutraIngredientsUSA.com: “Cran-Gyn DSS combines Valensa International’s patented Cran-Gyn ingredient and UAS Laboratories’ DDS probiotic to produce this revolutionary UTI women’s health product.”

Cran-Gyn DDS combines the activity of Lactobacillus acidophilus DDS probiotics with Cran-Gyn – a concentrated, proprietary cranberry/d-mannose formulation.

Triple action product

Although cranberry juice, d-mannose and probiotics have all been used separately to manage women’s urinary tract health, this is said to be the first time all three have been combined in a triple action product.

With a beneficial concentrated blend of cranberry extract, natural d-mannose and DDS probiotic, the calorie burden of cranberry juice is avoided,” said Moerck. “Also the unnecessary fiber content of existing popular cranberry extract nutraceuticals…is eliminated.”

Since the product is concentrated and requires a low dosage, the company recommends that it can be taken daily to manage regular urinary function, preemptively before known UTI trigger activities or as a UTI health support product.

Every bottle of Cran-Gyn DDS contains 60 vegetarian capsules. Each serving contains 500mg of a proprietary blend of cranberry extract and D-mannose plus 5b viable Lactobacillus acidophilus (DDS-1 strain), Bifidobacterium longum, Bifidobacterium bifidum and Bifidobacterium lactis.

The product is suitable for vegans and is non-dairy, gluten-free, soy-free, corn-free and non-GMO.

Probiotic products

Commenting on the partnership, Moerck said: “Valensa began the collaboration with UAS to explore the synergistic effects of probiotic products with the functioning of cranberry juice anthocyanins and natural d-mannose, along with immunity boosters and antioxidants that are present in our Cran-Gyn ingredient. The result….is a major advance in women’s GI and urinary tract health.”

Under the terms of the agreement Valensa and UAS have entered into a license and supply agreement that provides UAS access to Valensa’s patented Cran-Gyn ingredient.

Meanwhile UTI infections affect 53 percent of women and 14 percent of men at least once in their lives, according to PLoS Pathogens journal.

Such infections lead to 6.8m medical providers’ office visits, 1.3m emergency room visits and 245,000 hospitalizations a year - costing about $2.4bn each year.