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GET ready to chill out with the world’s coolest drinks. The secret? A natural
food additive with 35 times the cooling power of menthol—but no minty
flavour whatsoever.

It could bring a supercool fresh tang to a wide range of products, including
beer, bottled water, citrus drinks, chocolate and confectionery, says Thomas
Hofmann, whose team at the German Research Centre for Food Chemistry in
Garching, Munich, discovered the new substance. And because it “cools” skin 250
times as intensely as mint, they say it could add fresh zest to cosmetics such
as anti-perspirants.

The effects of the new substance…

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