Vinegar, known more for its cooking utility, is now gaining a new dimensionwith a novel treatment involving using it as a cervical cancer prevention method.

The chemical stains any precancerous lesions white, according to a report in the New York Times.

Nurses in Thailand are being taught how to remove lesions from young women using the chemical, along with a can of carbon dioxide that can be obtained from local Coca-Cola plants.

This procedure has been developed by John Hopkins med school and approved by the World Health Organisation.

In women, these are usually removed with the help of surgery – a procedure known as LEEP – loop electrosurgical excision therapy.

However, with health costs growing, the drive for ingenious methods is arising.

Dr. Bandit Chumworathayi, a gynecologist at Khon Kaen University, explains that vinegar highlights the tumors because they have more DNA, and thus more protein and less water, than other tissue, according to the report.

She helped run the first trial of VIA/cryo which freezes the lesions off once they are highlighted using a metal probe cooled by a tank of CO2 (obtained from said Coca-cola plant).

The technique was as an alternative to the Pap smear which helped cervical cancer drop from being the top cancer killer in American women in 1900s to far behind stronger cancers such which affect breasts, the colon, skin and lungs.