What can you say about cranberry in your ads and on your site?

The library supports 1 wording for cranberry; the strongest is “Provides antioxidants that help protect cells against free radical damage” (moderate, up to 30 g fresh fruit a day). Avoid wording that names or implies a disease, a drug or a treatment, such as “Prevents or treats urinary tract infections (UTIs), outside FDA’s qualified wording”.

Also called: Vaccinium macrocarpon

Reviewed 15 October 2026

Not legal advice. This guide shows the wording that published evidence supports at a daily dose, from the sources linked below; it is not a ruling on any claim. Your own product, its form and dose, and your own evidence still need to match the wording you use.

Supported wordings

What you can say.

Moderate evidenceWording 1

Claims Facts

“Provides antioxidants that help protect cells against free radical damage.”

Daily dose	up to 30 g fresh fruit a day
Support	Health Canada lists it at up to 30 g of fresh fruit a day; no other listed source covers it.
Dose details	Adults 18 and older. Health Canada: not more than 30 g of fresh fruit a day (about 4-5 g dried fruit), or not more than 950 ml of juice.
Form	Fresh, dried or powdered fruit, counted as fresh fruit
Source	Health Canada monograph: Cranberry

How strong the evidence is

Strong evidence: At least two listed sources support it independently at a comparable dose and form, and none disagrees.
Moderate evidence: One listed source supports it as an evidence-based use at that dose, and no listed source disagrees.
Limited evidence: The only support is traditional use, the sources disagree, or the source itself calls the evidence weak.

Wordings to avoid

What to leave out.

Claims Facts

Ingredient: Cranberry

Wording to avoid	Reason
“Prevents or treats urinary tract infections (UTIs), outside FDA’s qualified wording”Names a disease. FDA’s qualified claim for cranberry dietary supplements has set wording and conditions (see fda_health_claims).	Disease
“Works like an antibiotic for bladder infections”Presents the product as a drug.	Drug

Disease: names or implies a disease. Drug: names a drug or presents the product as one. Treatment: promises to treat, cure or prevent a condition.

Sources

Where this comes from.

All ingredient guides

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