Food Unwrapped

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

Jimmy Doherty asks what makes a London dry gin a London dry gin. He also finds out about a threat to British juniper berries that could spell the end of gin's recent resurgence. Kate Quilton heads to tropical Hawaii to find out why macadamia nuts aren't sold in their shells. She ropes in some Hawaiian muscle in the Big Island shipyards to help crack the case. At a Food Unwrapped party, Matt Tebbutt grosses out the crew with his notorious habit of double dipping: going back for a second dip in a communal salsa with a tortilla chip that's already been in his mouth. In a laboratory, Matt investigates what germs he may be transferring to the dips, and whether he needs to change his mucky ways.

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

Jimmy Doherty wants to know why jelly won't set if you add chopped papaya to it. In South Africa, Jimmy discovers that the exotic fruit contains enzymes that can also help tenderise meat. But could they also help the human gut? Jimmy quizzes Holland and Barrett, who sell papaya extract as an after-meal supplement. In Hawaii, Kate Quilton visits America's only tuna auction to find out why some fish have dangerous levels of mercury, while others don't. She also visits a ground-breaking tech start-up in San Francisco who hope to feed the world by growing fish flesh in a dish. And Matt Tebbutt wants to know why homemade ice cubes are always cloudy, when the ones that you buy in shops are always clear. They're all made with tap water, so what's the trick?

Jimmy Doherty investigates the new sugar tax, and finds out how manufacturers have responded by reducing the sugar in some of our favourite brands. But what exactly are they adding to keep the flavours the same? Kate Quilton asks why some sliced bread falls apart when it's buttered, while other sliced loaves stay firm. Kingsmill reveal the secret baker's trick, and it's all about bubbles! Meanwhile, Matt Tebbutt has noticed that strange white stripes are appearing more and more often on chicken breasts, and finds out why in Italy.

In a unique laboratory that could be mistaken for a pub, Jimmy Doherty investigates the popular belief that coffee can sober you up. He also looks into interesting new research linking coffee consumption and a reduced risk of liver disease. In San Francisco, Kate Quilton investigates new trendy drink kombucha, and the mind-blowing American team who are turning it into clothes! And Matt Tebbutt takes a bite out of thin-cut steak, and wonders why the supermarket labels don't say which cut of beef they come from. Are retailers trying to fob us off with inferior cuts?

What's the difference between white and dark rum? Are they made from different ingredients? Jimmy finds the answer in a Mauritius distillery. Back home, he learns where the term 'proof' originally came from: the answer's explosive, and it nearly blows Jimmy away! Jelly beans don't contain gelatine, so what is the jelly in a jelly bean? To find out, Kate visits the world's largest jelly bean producers, in California, at what may well be one of the world's most colourful factories. And fresh anchovies aren't salty, so why do tinned anchovies taste so salty? To find out, Matt goes on a remarkable night-time fishing trip off Italy's Amalfi Coast and visits an anchovy processing plant.