Food Unwrapped

In this special episode Jimmy Doherty, Matt Tebbutt and Kate Quilton test some of the food techniques they've discovered during the series, to answer viewers' questions

Jimmy Doherty, Matt Tebbutt and Kate Quilton answer more viewers' questions. Jimmy heads to Brazil to put stock cubes in the spotlight. How can something so small taste so beefy?

Jimmy Doherty, Kate Quilton and Matt Tebbut uncover the secrets behind our festive food. Do the bubbles in Champagne really make it go to your head faster? And why do children hate sprouts?

Kate Quilton travels to Swaziland to find out how they get tinned grapefruit so perfect, and, in Finland, Matt Tebbutt discovers exactly what the bacteria are in Probiotics.

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.

This episode explores how prawns are intensively farmed and discovers why there are often so few wild mushrooms in our wild mushroom soups. Kate flies to Thailand - the world's biggest producer of farmed prawns - to get a sense of the scale of the industry, and Matt meets a professional wild mushroom forager in the woods of West Sussex.

The team ask: is mouldy bread safe to eat? Kate's on the trail of the chicken that goes into a Kiev. And Matt is puzzled: how can supermarkets sell English summer apples in the middle of winter?

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.

The team ask: Why are cashew nuts never on the supermarket shelf in their shells? What exactly is scampi? Does expensive salt taste different to cheap salt?

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

Jimmy Doherty finds out why Iceland supplies most of our cod. Kate Quilton investigates whether the banana's days are numbered. And Matt Tebbutt discovers why popcorn doesn't fill you up.

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 wants to know why so much of the bacon in supermarkets comes from Denmark. Kate meets mozzarella makers in Italy. What is the liquid that mozzarella balls are bobbing in?

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 Doherty explores how blood is becoming trendy in gastronomy, including blood meringues. Kate Quilton asks why Spanish melons are so juicy, and Matt Edwards finds out how rock is made.

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

Are there wasps in fresh figs? Why is ostrich meat red? And Kate's mission to give up added sugar reveals some shocking truths.

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?

Are alarming headlines about MSG justified? Jimmy visits a huge factory to find out. Kate investigates rumours that the Brazil nuts in UK supermarkets are all radioactive. Plus: elderflower cordial.

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 heads to Spain to meet an entrepreneur farming blue fin tuna. Kate investigates why ice cream can go gritty, and Matt explores the difference between premium and budget peas.

Matt makes a surprising discovery about haggis. Jimmy wants to know if you can put dishwasher salt on your chips. And why do chicks have their beaks trimmed?

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?

Could bananas be used to fight viruses including HIV and influenza? Have Dutch scientists created a meat substitute that tastes of meat? And what are those green bits on crisps?

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.

Are crisp flavours made of real cheese and onion or cooked up in a lab? Matt investigates. Meanwhile, Kate learns the secrets of pepper, and Jimmy finds out about different types of yeast.

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?

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?

Kate visits Israel to unearth the mystery ingredient that makes icing sugar so light, fluffy and powdery. Her journey takes her via a dip in the Dead Sea to an enormous phosphate mine in the desert, where all is revealed. In Italy, Jimmy investigates the difference between risotto rice and long grain rice. An early morning trip to a bustling rice auction and a visit to a flooded rice field shed some light. Back in the UK, Jimmy challenges renowned Italian chef Gennaro Contaldo to knock up a risotto using long grain rice; can it be done? And where do pre-packed sandwiches' crusts go? Matt discovers that one sandwich maker has come up with an innovative - and surprising - way of putting the waste bread to good use

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.

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?

Kate finds out why rosemary is in so many food products. Jimmy meets a man whose taste buds are insured for a million pounds, in of one of the UK's biggest tea producers. Plus: seaweed.

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.

Why's clotted cream yellow? Could squid and chips replace fish and chips as our national dish? And where do multivitamins come from?

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.

How much prawn's in a prawn cracker? What's in low-salt food instead of salt? Plus: the new high-tech method for keeping fresh herbs alive for longer. And a basil plant that's half tree.

Jimmy examines how plastic packaging is polluting the food chain with potentially global implications. Is it really possible to predict if you'll love or hate Marmite? Matt runs across a custard pond.

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

Jimmy learns about the battle against the hidden nuisance that leads to corked wine. Plus: the surprising difference between runny and set honey. And okra.

How do those chunks in American ice cream stay crispy? Why have olive oil prices been going up? Why are Bloody Marys so popular on planes and why does airline food taste so different at ground level?

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?

Jimmy finds out how shredded wheat's made. Matt discovers that lard can be healthier than butter. Dr Helen visits Poland to learn the trick to concentrating apple juice.

Kate Quilton looks into Britain's plastic crisis while Jimmy Doherty and Matt Tebbutt visit South Africa on a piquanté pepper hunt.

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.

In China, Matt Tebbutt helps to cultivate pearls from surprising creatures. And why does sliced ham sometimes have a weird rainbow pattern on it?

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.

Kate investigates the worrying rise in peanut allergies. Matt traces the British blackcurrant from the field to the Ribena factory. Jimmy's on the trail of a surprising food fraud: oregano.

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.

Jimmy Doherty finds out how Sri Lanka is coping with a looming coconut shortage, while Kate Quilton discovers whether compostables could be the answer to worldwide plastic pollution problem, and Matt Tebbutt is in Paris to learn why the macaron has such a hefty price tag.

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…

Kate uncovers something surprising about small hens' eggs. Plus: why can't you eat supermarket burgers pink? And where do the bubbles in beer come from?

Jimmy Doherty asks what offers better value: growing your own fruit and veg or buying from the supermarket? Plus, investigating the illegal trafficking of eels, and ginger beer.

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.

Some favourite investigations as Jimmy Doherty looks at how our national dish could become squid and chips, Kate Quilton reports on kangaroo meat, and Matt Tebbutt looks at pesto.

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.

A trip to California reveals the secret of perfect walnuts. Plus, what makes sour sweets sour? And how do brewers make their trendy hazy beers cloudy?

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.

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.

Andi takes an eye-watering trip to an onion factory. Plus: how do raspberries get from the field to our fridges without turning to mush? And why is Thai banana blossom shaking up fish and chips?

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.