Cranberry juice is the liquid juice of the cranberry, typically manufactured to contain sugar, water, and other fruit juices. Cranberry – a fruit native to North America – is recognized for its bright red color, tart taste, and versatility for product manufacturing. Major cranberry products include cranberry juice, dried cranberry, cranberry sauce, frozen cranberry, cranberry powder, and dietary supplements containing cranberry extracts.
The term "cranberry juice cocktail" or "cranberry juice blend" refers to products that contain about 28% cranberry juice, with the remainder either from other fruit juice concentrates (typically grape, apple or pear), water, and added sugar to improve palatability. Low-calorie cranberry juice products use non-caloric sweeteners. The tartness of cranberry juice derives from its mixed content of polyphenols, including flavonoids, proanthocyanidins, anthocyanins, phenolic acids, and ellagitannins.
Despite a long-held reputation for providing antibacterial activity against urinary tract infections (UTIs), cranberry juice has no such proven effects, as determined by a Cochrane review of completed clinical research and a scientific panel for the European Food Safety Authority which concluded a cause-and-effect relationship could not be established between cranberry consumption and risk of UTIs.