A cooling die, for use in the manufacture of extruded food products, the cooling die including: a plurality of core members forming a main body portion of the cooling die between die inlet and outlet ends and arranged about an axis of the die in neighboring relationship; a plurality of extrudate flow channels extending through the cooling die from the inlet end to the outlet end, defined by gaps between neighboring ones of said core members; at least one bore in each said core member through which coolant may flow; an enclosing structure adapted to secure the core members against radial movement relative to the die axis; means for connecting the cooling die to an outlet of a food extruder, a cooling fluid source and a cooling fluid receptacle; and extrudate flow distribution means, located adjacent the inlet end, adapted to direct extrudate from the outlet of the food extruder into selected ones of said extrudate flow channels.