Food Unwrapped

In Israel, Kate unearths icing sugar's secret ingredient. Jimmy grapples with a team of wrestlers who swear by a mysterious yoghurt called skyr. And Matt deep-dives for edible seaweed.

How many apples are there in a can of cider? How does a humble vegetable become trademarked? And is the white stuff on salami something we should be talking about?

Recipe boxes are increasingly popular - but are they good value? Does it matter what kind of water you drink? And Jimmy Doherty reveals the best way to remove the smell of fish.

Jimmy Doherty fires up the barbecue and asks why we suddenly all love brioche for our burgers? Plus, the truth about wine bottles and why some ice creams get melty and messy much faster than others.

A look back at some favourite vegetarian investigations, from tasty meat-free burgers to edible seaweed, jackfruit, grow-your-own gardening tips, and the surprising truth about baby carrots.

Why does pasta come in so many different shapes? How much butter is in buttermilk? And how do ready meals get their spice rating?

The team explores how the UK food industry is meeting the challenges of climate change - from cucumber wrapping and pumpkins at Halloween to beef production and meat substitutes.

What's the healthiest lettuce in the salad bag? Is sea salt all it's cracked up to be? And in Suffolk, Briony May Williams explores the difference between light and dark ales.

Matt Tebbutt visits Argentina to learn the secret of perfect popcorn, Andi Oliver looks at how the mould gets put inside blue cheese, and Jimmy Doherty is in Germany to see how electricity is used in cutting edge crisp production.

Amanda Byram is plunged into darkness in the rhubarb triangle. How much sugar is in milkshakes? And Matt Tebbutt investigates sunflower seeds.

Jimmy finds microplastics in some of our most popular soft drinks. Kate Quilton tackles nettles. And Amanda Byram asks why do rhubarb and custard go so well together?

Jimmy investigates turmeric in India and Kate finds out how much milk is in chocolate, while Andi draws the short straw and investigates asparagus and pungent pee problems.

Helen Lawal heads to one of the world's biggest coffee factories to find out how instant cappuccinos get their froth. Matt Tebbutt is in Naples to discover why most tinned tomatoes come from Italy, while Kate Quilton embarks on a panettone odyssey across Europe to learn how the fluffy cake lasts so long.

How can there be so many tomatoes in a tomato ketchup bottle? When did oysters go from Victorian bar snack to luxury food? And the truth about medium vs large eggs.

Jimmy heads to Paris to find out why baguettes go stale so fast. Matt checks out buffalo mozzarella in Italy. And Briony May Williams discovers the surprising secret to how mushy peas get mushed.

Favourite investigations. Jimmy Doherty visits Europe's biggest brewery. Kate Quilton challenges Matt Tebbutt to make crumpets. And Matt discovers why maple syrup is so expensive.

Kate and Helen explore vanilla, while in the Netherlands Matt explores the myth that Edam balls were once used as emergency cannon balls!

The team investigate how supermarkets get the iced writing so perfect on birthday cakes, the popularity of the soy bean, and the growing trend for hemp-based food products.

How do you milk a camel? Kate investigates, and explores camel milk's rising popularity. How does supermarket fresh pasta last so long? And should we buy supermarkets' standard products or value ones?

Kate Quilton learns about a potentially life-saving property of discarded shrimp shells and Matt Tebbutt investigates why people cannot seem to get enough of salted caramel. Plus, Jimmy Doherty explores the price differences between fresh and frozen…

Are baked beans baked? If stinky cheese smells so bad why does it taste so good? And Matt gets the skinny on diet champagne.

Kate checks out a space-age high-speed German pickling machine. How do you make a kipper, and why don't we eat them for breakfast any more? And rice cakes are made from brown rice. Why are they white?

Why is there jelly in our pork pies and how does it get there? What in nature provides the natural bright blue dye in our sweets? And why is soft shell crab such a delicacy?

Is a parasite hiding in your sushi? Can M&S really trace all their beef burgers back to the cow? Plus: Matt investigates concerns about naturally-occurring arsenic in baby rice products.

Can eating too many poppy seeds make you fail a drugs test? Kate learns the consequences of tipping cooking oil down the drain. Plus: ancient grain bread.

Can coffee help you sober up? Kate investigates trendy drink kombucha and meets people who are turning it into clothes! And which cut of beef do thin-cut steaks come from?

Kate meets a tech start-up who hope to feed the world by growing fish flesh in a dish. Plus: how do you make ice cubes that aren't cloudy? And why can't you put papaya in jelly?

Could a threat to British juniper berries spell the end of the gin resurgence? Plus: Kate checks out macadamia nuts in Hawaii and Matt finds out what's so bad about his double dipping habit.

Was Edam once used as cannonballs? What's that white powdery stuff that sometimes forms on chocolate? And can bedtime teas really help us sleep?

Jimmy hunts for the mother of all lagers. Plus: can changing the shape of food help our children eat their vegetables? And why are blueberries coated in a strange cloudy wax?

How do crumpets get filled with holes? How come baby food has such a long shelf-life? And why's mascarpone more expensive that other soft cheeses?

What gives some whisky its smoky flavour? Why doesn't halloumi melt? And how do you get corn off the cob?

How much orange is in orange squash? Why's maple syrup so expensive? And what's with all those little holes on biscuits?

Can high-tech surveillance save our salmon? How on earth can you barbecue a kangaroo? Plus: the secrets behind the annual race to get seasonal asparagus into supermarkets.

Kate meets a scientist who hopes his genetically engineered goats' milk could save 500,000 lives a year. Is the fish we're buying really what we think it is? And what exactly is spreadable butter?

Bergamot provides flavour in Jimmy's Earl Grey tea, but what exactly is it? How does instant tea match up against tea bags? Kate visits a very colourful jelly bean factory. Plus: pork scratchings.

What are those worms doing in bottles of tequila? How do you stop carp tasting of mud? And what's the difference between tangerines, mandarins, satsumas and clementines?

Should we keep coffee, tomatoes, potatoes and even red wine in the fridge? Kate finds out why eucalyptus is so good at clearing our airwaves. Plus: sauerkraut.

How do you farm crocodiles? Kate visits Australia to find out and collects crocodile eggs from under their mothers' noses. Does cod liver oil have to be cod? Why do bagels taste different from bread?

Jimmy takes to the skies above Israel to join the battle to protect the bell pepper crop from the Mediterranean fruit fly, but is amazed to learn that it's not insecticide that he's helping to spread across the desert. Can you put dishwasher salt on your chips? Jimmy visits an extraordinary underground salt mine in Sicily, with a vast network of tunnels leading to a subterranean salt processing plant. Kate visits Vietnam to find out if coconut oil is any healthier than other oils. She also heads to the Amazon rainforest to investigate rumours that the Brazil nuts on UK supermarket shelves are all radioactive.

In Italy, Jimmy looks into why Parmesan costs up to twice as much as supermarket Cheddar. Kate's been puzzling over paprika and travels to Hungary and Spain to find out exactly where it comes from. And Matt looks at hard-boiled eggs - it can be fiddly enough getting the shell off in the comfort of your own kitchen, so how do the big players manage it now that hard-boiled eggs are popping up everywhere in supermarkets?

Jimmy Doherty visits the largest wholesale food market in the world in Paris and discovers why British cheese sales are soaring across Europe. Matt Tebbutt travels to one of the largest ham producers in Italy and meets a pig farmer who tells him about a delicate problem that all pork producers face, while Kate Quilton investigates why some limes are so much juicier than others.

Jimmy Doherty, Kate Quilton and Matt Tebbutt reveal more unusual, intriguing and surprising secrets behind the food we eat. Matt heads to Italy to find out how supermarkets can sell pesto at an affordable price when the traditional ingredients are expensive. He visits one of Europe's biggest pesto producers and takes a remarkable trip to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, where basil is being grown in an extraordinary underwater farm. Jimmy wants to know why so many cockles in our supermarkets come from abroad, when he always thought of them as a quintessentially British staple. He visits Wales and the Wash, where two very different stories unfold, and witnesses a remarkable method of cockle gathering that has to be seen to be believed. And why do marshmallows go so crispy and melty at the same time over the campfire? Kate takes a colourful trip around Europe's largest marshmallow factory to find out.

At a green bean plantation in Kenya, Jimmy learns how they grow the beans so straight for the supermarkets, and finds out what happens to the beans that don't make the grade. He also discovers the remarkable lengths that the farmers go to to stop the local wildlife destroying their valuable crop. At a Norwegian scallop farm, Matt braves the icy waters of the North Sea to join the divers harvesting scallops by hand from the sea bed. This sustainable farming method could be a model for the rest of Europe, but it needs a constant source of baby scallops, so Matt gets hands-on in the hatchery as he learns how to encourage a scallop to procreate. And Kate tries to unravel a mystery about Cornwall's most famous local delicacy: what exactly goes into a Cornish Pasty, swede or turnip?

Is coconut oil really healthier than other oils? Can absinthe lead to hallucinations and madness? And what do artichoke hearts have in common with strange African berries?

Why does marmalade taste bitter when it's made of sugar and oranges? Which fish are fully sustainable? And are the British public up for goat meat?

What exactly is processed meat, and is a fresh British banger healthier than a frankfurter? Jimmy investigates dates. And Matt meets a man who has 250 varieties of apple on his tree.

Why is almond butter more expensive than other nutty spreads? How is wine turned into fortified wine? And why does chopping onions make you cry?

Are ready meals really twice as big as they were in the 1950s? How do green soy beans become creamy white tofu? And can artificially inseminating cows make milk easier to digest?

The team look back at some favourite investigations. Why is that liquid in packets of mozzarella? Why do we import venison when there are so many British deer? Why shouldn't we eat raw bean sprouts?

Do prunes really keep us regular? How much sugar is in cherry tomatoes, and are supermarkets labelling them correctly? And can a Dutch pioneer grow veg using sea water?

Jimmy examines how far farmers go to produce perfect veg for supermarkets. In America, Kate discovers that wine's getting stronger. Matt finds out which biscuit's best for dunking.

Jimmy investigates whether it's worth splashing out on expensive vodka, Kate finds out how coffee beans are turned into instant granules, and Matt checks out Wensleydale cheese.

Jimmy investigates the effects of vitamin D deficiency. Kate wants to know how supermarkets can sell wagyu beef, cheaply. And Matt heads to Switzerland to ask why there are holes in Swiss cheese.

Jimmy investigates mineral water and whether tap water has really been through seven people, while Kate finds out what the vegetable is in vegetable oil.

Jimmy finds out what whitebait actually is and why it's not available in most supermarkets. Kate visits a cattle farm in America that supersizes cows and asks if what our meat eats matters.

Jimmy learns about a potentially devastating Greek yoghurt by-product. Kate uncovers the secrets of saffron, and Matt finds out why you can't eat kidney beans raw.

Jimmy examines the impact 'healthy' snacks can have on children's teeth. Kate finds out what makes cheap wine taste good, and Matt asks why good garlic gives us bad breath.

Why is halloumi cheese a subject of great debate? Is there a lethal poison lurking in apple cores? And what lives inside every sourdough loaf?

Is there any goodness left in tinned tomatoes? What part of a pig makes sweets chewy? And how do prebiotics work?

Jimmy wants to know what gives stout its smooth texture. Kate's on the trail of the ultimate superfood. And why is English mustard hot while the Dijon variety is relatively cool?

Jimmy finds out how food producers are using seaweed to reduce their salt content. Jellied eel sales are booming, but where do the eels come from? And why does tonic water glow in UV light?

Kate wants to know where liquorice comes from. She's not a fan, but will she be converted once she's seen the experts in Calabria, Italy turn bitter-tasting liquorice roots into sweet treats?

Jimmy gives supermarket fish a sniff to discover how fresh the stock really is. Kate investigates how asparagus can be grown all year round in one of the driest places on earth - the Ica Valley, Peru.

Kate visits France to find out if a glass of red wine a day keeps the doctor away. Matt lifts the lid on skimmed milk. How do dairy farmers get exactly the right amount of fat in every pint of milk?

Jimmy discovers that there's more to traditionally-matured cheese than meets the eye, thanks to a microorganism that helps give the likes of pecorino their distinctive hard rinds

Are fresh sardines better for us than tinned sardines? How much is known about the ducks we consume? And, when it comes to pasta, is fresh best?

Can hot chilies injure you? What's the difference between outdoor-bred and outdoor-reared pork? And what's bugging Jimmy about red food dye?

Jimmy, Kate and Matt ask how much cow is in a beef stock cube, how cornflakes are made, and what exactly processed cheese is.

Jimmy Doherty asks: what exactly is in a doner kebab? Meanwhile, Kate Quilton wants to find out the safest way of eating oysters. And finally, Matt Tebbutt learns about the amazing ingredient that comes in every bottle of that classic English tipple gin.

Matt Tebbutt travels to Sweden to learn how a food company uses liquid smoke to flavour sausages, a method that is cheaper and quicker and enables flavours to be tailored more effectively. The Food Standards Agency requires that ice-cream needs to contain milk protein and any kind of fat - vegetable being the one most commonly used. Martin Dickie and James Watt head to Brighton beach with an old-fashioned bicycle adorned with banners saying `Ice Vegetable Oil'. What will the public make of this product?

Kate Quilton heads to Spain to find out how pure squeezed, not-from-concentrate orange juice is really made, and how 'fresh' it is. The team then travel around the UK to find out what is used to replace the fat in low-fat mayonnaise, and discover it's a bacteria that usually grows on rotting cabbages.

This episode explores the difference between green and black olives, and why not everything that goes into beer processing is listed in the ingredients. Matt travels to South Africa to visit one of the country's largest olive orchards in the Western Cape, where he discovers that black olives are just riper green olives, but that both need a year's soaking in brine to make them edible. In Spain, Kate is shown how mass production factories make super black olives found in pizza and salads. And Matt heads to a small brewery near Belfast to discover if it really is just water, hops, barley and wheat in beer.

Kate and Matt investigate the wax on our lemons in Spain and Thailand, and Matt gets the real story behind formed ham here in the UK.