Dried cranberries

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A craisin is a dried and sweetened cranberry, similar in texture to a raisin but the taste is more tart. The word "craisin" is a combination of the words Cranberry and Raisin. The word "Craisins" is a registered trade mark of Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. Ocean Spray also markets orange and cherry flavored dried cranberries.

Many different companies sell dried cranberries since their popularization upon the 1995 introduction of "craisins" by Ocean Spray. Before their introduction as a snack in and of themselves, however, Ocean Spray began marketing sweetened dried cranberries to food makers in 1989.

Craisins are lower in vitamins like vitamin C, and much higher in sugar than fresh cranberries. They contain about 93 grams of sugar per cup (more than 40%) as opposed to fresh cranberries which contain about 3 grams of sugar per cup. This means that they should not be considered a healthy snack or as the nutritional equivalent to cranberries.

In common usage the word Craisin refers to a sweetened and dried cranberry, not necessarily of any brand much as the word Kleenex is usually used to mean a tissue of any kind.