Food Unwrapped

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?

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?

Jimmy Doherty, Kate Quilton and Matt Tebbutt uncover more unusual, intriguing and surprising secrets behind the food we eat. Jimmy's off to Israel on the trail of an elusive fruit: the fresh date. If raisins are dried grapes and prunes are dried plums, then what exactly are dates? Jimmy's search for the answer takes him to a vast water purification plant, where they harness the raw sewage of Tel Aviv to turn barren desert into fertile farmland. Kate heads to Belfast to meet a sausage maker whose sales suffered in the wake of the recent World Health Organisation report linking processed meat to cancer. But can a fresh British banger really be as bad for you as a frankfurter? And what is processed meat anyway? To find out, Kate enlists Matt's help to create the most processed sausage possible. How will Britain's foremost expert on processed meat react to Kate's Frankensausage?

Jimmy Doherty, Kate Quilton and Matt Tebbutt uncover more unusual, intriguing and surprising secrets behind the food we eat. In Seville, Jimmy looks for the mysterious ingredient that gives marmalade its bitter tang. Each jar of Paddington's favourite spread contains 60% sugar, and oranges are sweet, so what's going on? Kate investigates sustainable fish. She learns that even farmed smoked salmon aren't considered fully sustainable; so which fish can we eat with a clear conscience?