In a move that demonstrates both leadership and commitment to the cranberry industry, Fruit d'Or has added two sophisticated testing technologies to ensure identity, authenticity and purity of its growing suite of targeted cranberry ingredients for a wide range of consumer health products.

The first test is DNA Barcoding, performed to prove that the starting material is indeed cranberry.

"DNA Barcoding should be heavily considered for all materials of natural origin, so that the processing of authenticated material may move forward accordingly," explains Stephen Lukawski, director of Global Business Development, Sales and Marketing for Fruit d'Or. "It is critical to perform DNA Barcoding on the unprocessed, raw ingredient, because as the material moves through drying, milling, etc., these processes can cause a breakdown of the DNA structure, making it much more difficult if not impossible to detect DNA in final finished products.”

While DNA Barcoding is applicable for authentication of the cranberry fruit (raw material) it does not provide qualitative (what does it look like) or quantitative (how much is there) information on the bioactive constituents (proanthocyanidins) of cranberry raw ingredients and/or final formulated products. Fruit d'Or, in conjunction with Christian Krueger, CEO of Complete Phytochemical Solutions, LLC of Cambridge, Wisconsin, has incorporated MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry for purposes of authenticating A-type PAC in both its raw ingredients and finished products. Collectively, these sophisticated analytics will support efficacy, standardization and authentication from the beginning to the end of the process.

"Authenticity is only part of the equation as efficacy and standardization are also needed to be assured," Lukawski comments. "Look at it this way: What good is preventing adulteration when we don't have efficacious products on the shelf? Consumers expect when they purchase health products that they work and that they will achieve a desired result; that is why transparency on the label is so important for the consumers to identify efficacious and safe products."

Working with Krueger, Lukawski adds, "we have been able to adopt both test methods that will complement one another to achieve a higher standard of quality. These new analytical tools need to be recognized of their importance to further enhance the trust and respect needed from consumers to grow the nutraceutical industry.

"Protecting the consumer by producing efficacious science-based cranberry ingredients is our goal; we can achieve this goal by the introduction of both these analytical tools," he continues. "Further, complete consumer protection can only be accomplished by accepting new technology that will further establish credibility and trust in our cranberry ingredients."

Lukawski further explains, "We need stakeholders who are able to accept and adopt new test methods and introduce new analytical equipment in order to prevent adulteration, establish authenticity and create standardization. If we do not have the acceptance and the approval from our customers that they want to deliver a higher quality cranberry product to consumers and show a sincere interest in protecting consumers interest with efficacious cranberry ingredients at the retail level, then this could have a negative effect on the future growth of the cranberry industry. Quality and safety is paramount as we must do everything possible to set higher standards and hurdles for those self-serving companies that seek short-term profit over the safety and efficacy of bringing the best quality products to consumers. When consumers trust us, they trust taking care of their health with the best this industry has to offer across the board."