The Truth About Dried Cranberries
October 24, 2012 67 Comments
This shocking post will reveal a little known fact about dried cranberries. Someone has to reveal the truth!
Cranberries are picked by fairies who live in teeny weeny mobile homes.
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Actually, the truth is not as interesting as the above fib. Dried cranberries, also know as “Craisins”, are not the same as raisins. Sure, Ocean Spray would like you to believe that they are the same, but there is one big difference.
Dried cranberries are made with added sugar, while raisins are just dried grapes with no sugar added. Why should this matter to you? I guess I think that most of us put dried cranberries and dried grapes in the same category because they sit next to each other in the store and because of the name “Craisins”.
Since Craisins has come out – Ocean Spray has added reduced sugar Craisins to address the level of added sugar.
.Here are a two big differences between the two:
- Raisins have 6% of your daily value of iron per serving
- Raisins have 310 mg of potassium (9% of your daily value) per serving
- Raisins have 1 gram of protein and 2% of your daily value of calcium per serving
How much iron, potassium, protein, and calcium do dried cranberries have? None.
Here are the nutrition facts for one serving of dried cranberries:
130 calories, 0 g fat, 33 g carbohydrates, 26 g sugar, 0 g protein, 3 g fiber, 0 mg sodium
There are no other significant sources of macronutrients on the package. You may be getting some micronutrients, if they survived the dehydrating process. The rest is just fiber and sugar (which they added).
Raisins are more nutritious and fundamentally a different product (nothing added!) than dried cranberries.
I'm not saying you should stop eating dried cranberries. I love to use them as a flavoring agent for salads or cookies, but be aware that raisins are better for you.
Did you notice the difference between Craisins and raisins? What other dried fruits have surprised you?
Other posts you might like:
Reduced Sugar Craisins: Are These a Better Choice?
I was hunting for some dried cranberries when I found reduced sugar Craisins. Wow!...
