August 25/Washington/Asian News International (ANI) -- Experts have expressed doubts over the use of cranberry juice as a preventative against urinary tract infections (UTIs).

Dr. Raz, director of Infectious Diseases at the Technion School of Medicine in Israel, said that the present clinical evidence for using cranberry juice and related products to fight the common ailment was 'unsatisfactory and inconclusive'.

Raz, a member of F1000 Medicine, along with his associate Faculty Member, Hana Edelstein, suggested that "cranberry should no longer be considered as an effective [preventative] for recurrent UTIs."

The boffins explained that it was difficult to point out a single compound from the hundreds in cranberry to be held responsible for any therapeutic effect, creating a shadow of doubt over its adoption.

Raz and Edelstein also warned that cranberry could also interact badly with other medicines such as Warfarin, commonly used to treat heart disease.

From the August 31, 2009, Prepared Foods E-dition