0:00:02 > 0:00:04There's a lot we don't know about the food on our plates,
0:00:04 > 0:00:07and the shops and the labels don't always tell you the whole story.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11I think they encourage you to buy more than you need,
0:00:11 > 0:00:13and that causes a lot of waste.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16Whether you're staying in or going out,
0:00:16 > 0:00:20you've told us that you can feel ripped off by the promises made for
0:00:20 > 0:00:22what you eat and, indeed, for what you pay for it.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25How do you know that it's half price?
0:00:25 > 0:00:26So what they've done,
0:00:26 > 0:00:29they've bumped the price up and then knocked it down.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31From claims that don't stack up,
0:00:31 > 0:00:33to the secrets behind the packaging,
0:00:33 > 0:00:36we'll uncover the truth about Britain's food,
0:00:36 > 0:00:39so that you can be sure that you are getting what you expect,
0:00:39 > 0:00:40at the right price.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45Your food, your money, this is Rip-Off Britain.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51Hello and welcome to Rip-Off Britain.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55Now, in this series, we're investigating everything to do with what we eat,
0:00:55 > 0:00:58so that you can feel confident that the food you buy is exactly what you
0:00:58 > 0:01:02think it is. But as you'll see today, that isn't always the case,
0:01:02 > 0:01:05and we've been looking into some quite shocking occasions when that
0:01:05 > 0:01:07actually doesn't happen.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10In fact, you could call it food fraud,
0:01:10 > 0:01:13and it certainly raises the question of whether enough is being done to
0:01:13 > 0:01:17stop certain meals being made with ingredients that shouldn't be there.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20It's a really serious issue when you think about the consequences,
0:01:20 > 0:01:22especially for people with allergies, say,
0:01:22 > 0:01:26or maybe religious beliefs that forbid the eating of particular foods.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28Well, alarming as that case may be,
0:01:28 > 0:01:31it's not the only surprise on its way today,
0:01:31 > 0:01:35because we're going to be exposing the truth about what you might call
0:01:35 > 0:01:36posh nosh.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39You know, those food treats that we would like to splash out on,
0:01:39 > 0:01:42and I think you may be surprised to discover that not everything that
0:01:42 > 0:01:47you're paying those extra pennies for is as authentic as you would hope.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51But don't worry, because we'll have everything you need to know about
0:01:51 > 0:01:54how to stop you buying something that is not what you expect.
0:01:57 > 0:01:58Coming up...
0:01:58 > 0:02:01We test the takeaway curries that aren't what they seem or
0:02:01 > 0:02:02what we ordered.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05With even the lab astonished at what we found,
0:02:05 > 0:02:07could you have been eating an entirely different meat
0:02:07 > 0:02:09than the one you asked for?
0:02:09 > 0:02:11The results have been quite shocking.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15We've seen problems with substitution of meat from takeaways before,
0:02:15 > 0:02:17but never quite on this scale.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22And, with foods once considered expensive luxuries now regularly appearing
0:02:22 > 0:02:24on our supermarket shelves,
0:02:24 > 0:02:28could we sometimes be getting a poor substitute and not the real thing?
0:02:28 > 0:02:32We suspected that the truffles in our jar may have been potato that
0:02:32 > 0:02:35had been sculpted, which completely horrifies me.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43I think it's fair to say that we Brits love our takeaways.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46Do you know that over the last year, between us we've spent an incredible
0:02:46 > 0:02:49£6.5 billion on them?
0:02:49 > 0:02:52Well, one of the most popular takeaways is curry,
0:02:52 > 0:02:55first served in the UK way back in the 1700s,
0:02:55 > 0:02:59and in recent years pretty much adopted as our national dish.
0:02:59 > 0:03:04But I am sorry to say that sometimes what we're eating may not be what we
0:03:04 > 0:03:09think it is, because some curries billed as containing a particular meat
0:03:09 > 0:03:12might in fact be made with a different one altogether,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15which can cause rather more serious problems than simply concerns over
0:03:15 > 0:03:17taste or flavour.
0:03:17 > 0:03:22Now all this has echoes of the horse meat scandal several years ago,
0:03:22 > 0:03:27so we've been ordering a few takeaways of our own, and guess what?
0:03:27 > 0:03:29Not all of them contained the meat they were supposed to.
0:03:36 > 0:03:41Each week, millions of us will order food from one of around 12,000 curry
0:03:41 > 0:03:42houses in the UK.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47But sometimes what's on the menu isn't what's in the dish.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51A recent investigation by the Food Standards Agency discovered that some
0:03:51 > 0:03:56curry houses are advertising lamb but actually serving a different mixture
0:03:56 > 0:04:00of meats - beef, chicken, mutton. Some lamb curries, in fact,
0:04:00 > 0:04:02contain no lamb at all.
0:04:03 > 0:04:09The investigation found that of the 307 lamb dishes sampled, 65 of them,
0:04:09 > 0:04:11that's 21%,
0:04:11 > 0:04:15had traces of other meats that hadn't been declared as being there.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19And though some of those had only low levels of undeclared meats,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22indicating nothing more sinister than poor handling,
0:04:22 > 0:04:25in the majority of cases it was a very different story,
0:04:25 > 0:04:29and the higher levels found suggest that the curry houses concerned were
0:04:29 > 0:04:33deliberately replacing the lamb with significantly cheaper meats,
0:04:33 > 0:04:34like beef or chicken.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39It's a deception which experts say is motivated by money.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43So we've known for many years that
0:04:43 > 0:04:45lamb is a premium meat,
0:04:45 > 0:04:51and it's been substituted fraudulently by the use
0:04:51 > 0:04:54of beef and chicken.
0:04:54 > 0:04:59It hasn't gone away, I'm guessing, because it's still profitable.
0:05:00 > 0:05:05The retailer is responsible to ensure that the product complies
0:05:05 > 0:05:09with food safety requirements and labelling legislation.
0:05:10 > 0:05:11Well, across the country,
0:05:11 > 0:05:15Trading Standards teams have been cracking down on this type of fraud.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19Last year, a takeaway in Rochdale got a £6,000 fine
0:05:19 > 0:05:22for serving chicken and beef instead of lamb.
0:05:22 > 0:05:27A Nuneaton curry house owner was fined nearly £1,800 for selling beef
0:05:27 > 0:05:28and calling it lamb.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30And in 2014,
0:05:30 > 0:05:35investigators in Teesside found that a staggering 41% of takeaways
0:05:35 > 0:05:38sampled were advertising lamb that was actually beef.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42But even with all those lovely spices and flavours alongside the
0:05:42 > 0:05:44meat, you might wonder, as I initially did,
0:05:44 > 0:05:48how the curry houses doing this manage to fool their customers into
0:05:48 > 0:05:51thinking they're eating one meat when they're actually chowing down
0:05:51 > 0:05:52on another.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58So we found the perfect guinea pigs to help put that to the test,
0:05:58 > 0:06:01a team of self-confessed curry lovers in the city said to be the
0:06:01 > 0:06:03birthplace of the balti - Birmingham.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07I want to ask you guys, who likes curry?
0:06:07 > 0:06:09- Love it.- Yeah.- Right.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11Which curries do you really like?
0:06:11 > 0:06:13- Tikka masala, probably. - Chicken tikka jalfrezi.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16- Balti.- Madras, got to be a madras.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19- Yeah.- A bit of heat.- Yeah, what kind of meat do you like in your curry?
0:06:19 > 0:06:20- Chicken.- Chicken.- Chicken.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22Ever tried lamb?
0:06:22 > 0:06:23- Special occasions!- Yeah.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28So, as this lot head back to their training,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31on the other side of the city we're preparing them a curry,
0:06:31 > 0:06:32Rip-Off Britain style.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37We'll see if they can spot that the meat they'll be told they're eating
0:06:37 > 0:06:40isn't the whole story when it comes to what's actually on their plate.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45In other words, replicating what Trading Standards say is happening
0:06:45 > 0:06:47in some curry houses nationwide.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53Today, I'm going to cook beef and I will pretend it's like lamb.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Cooking for our footballers is Aksar,
0:06:57 > 0:07:00the head chef of the Tipu Sultan restaurant,
0:07:00 > 0:07:03which scooped two gongs at the English Curry Awards last year.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08And while he and his team would never serve one meat and then make out
0:07:08 > 0:07:10it's another that's more expensive,
0:07:10 > 0:07:16we asked Aksar to show us what less reputable establishments may be getting up to.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20So, he's going to make what looks like a chicken and lamb curry but with
0:07:20 > 0:07:22cheaper beef instead of lamb.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25The question is - will our footballers be able to tell?
0:07:27 > 0:07:31So first I take out some beef and soak in the water, like 15, 20 minutes,
0:07:31 > 0:07:33and blood comes out.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35Once Aksar has soaked the beef,
0:07:35 > 0:07:38he chops it up small to disguise the texture.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41He then boils the meat to really take away any flavour.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44It will take an hour 15, an hour 20 minutes like this.
0:07:44 > 0:07:49So nobody can judge it's beef.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54Finally, Aksar adds the chicken to the beef and once it's cooked through,
0:07:54 > 0:07:56voila, a curry,
0:07:56 > 0:07:59but not the one our footballers will think they're getting.
0:08:01 > 0:08:02Do sit down.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06Welcome to the world's most stylish curry house!
0:08:10 > 0:08:14OK, so just a little bit of information about this curry.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17'I tell them it's a chicken and lamb curry.
0:08:17 > 0:08:18'Will they spot that it's not?'
0:08:20 > 0:08:22So, heads down, aim for the finishing line
0:08:22 > 0:08:24and we want to know what you think of it.
0:08:24 > 0:08:25Mm.
0:08:26 > 0:08:27Did I hear a "mm"?
0:08:29 > 0:08:32- Really nice.- Nice, yeah, it's really nice.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35- The lamb's not chewy.- No, it's not. - No.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39'They're eating now and the reaction is really interesting.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42'I mean they're all saying it is absolutely delicious but several'
0:08:42 > 0:08:45of them have said they love the lamb.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49- It's well cooked. Really nice. - Yep.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52So, so far, so good.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55I think they're in for a surprise.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58'Time to reveal the truth.'
0:08:58 > 0:09:00So, what do you reckon?
0:09:00 > 0:09:01- Lamb was really nice.- Yeah.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03- Really good.- Was it nicely cooked?
0:09:03 > 0:09:04Yeah. A bit of a kick to it.
0:09:04 > 0:09:09Well, now you've finished your meals, I've got some news for you.
0:09:09 > 0:09:16The lamb and chicken curry I gave you to eat actually contained no lamb,
0:09:16 > 0:09:18it was beef and chicken.
0:09:20 > 0:09:25The beef meat was washed and treated in all sorts of ways to make it more
0:09:25 > 0:09:27like lamb but it wasn't lamb.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29A bit shocked, really.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33There's no way I would have told the difference, it being beef, not lamb.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36But I think if I had found that out, quite distressing really.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39From the quality of what it was,
0:09:39 > 0:09:42I wouldn't be able to tell, to be honest.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44I think most people who have a curry
0:09:44 > 0:09:47might have had a few beers and as long as the quality is good,
0:09:47 > 0:09:50there is nothing to complain, the lamb tasted like lamb,
0:09:50 > 0:09:52so I think 90% of people wouldn't complain about it,
0:09:52 > 0:09:54because it did taste the way it was supposed to be.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57The fact at that you've told us that we were having lamb,
0:09:57 > 0:10:00I think showed around the table that people thought they were eating lamb.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02So, obviously if you're telling us we're eating it,
0:10:02 > 0:10:04somebody in a restaurant is telling you you're eating it,
0:10:04 > 0:10:06you're not going to know.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08Well, we certainly pulled the wool over their eyes.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12They were completely taken in by the so-called lamb and chicken curry.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18All of which proves that with some clever cooking and the art of
0:10:18 > 0:10:20persuasion, even the most ardent curry lover
0:10:20 > 0:10:24could be fooled into thinking they're eating something they're not,
0:10:24 > 0:10:28leaving the industry wide open to this type of fraud.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31And that's a huge concern for Syed Bilal Ahmed.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35- Hello, Julia. - 'He's editor of Curry Life magazine.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37'And a true connoisseur.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40'And he's not happy about the unscrupulous curry houses
0:10:40 > 0:10:42'who give his industry a bad name.'
0:10:43 > 0:10:46How much of a problem is this?
0:10:46 > 0:10:48It is increasingly becoming a problem.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51I've been reporting on it for a while.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53I've seen a few cases here and there.
0:10:54 > 0:11:00I'm just shocked because some restaurants are taking short cuts
0:11:00 > 0:11:02to use substandard ingredients.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06Is it your sense that people are careless in the kitchen?
0:11:06 > 0:11:09I think sometimes.
0:11:09 > 0:11:14I think the restaurants or whoever is in charge in the kitchen, chef,
0:11:14 > 0:11:19is not taking responsibility of things, of the ingredients.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22If I am a smart chef, straightaway I can see
0:11:22 > 0:11:26the difference between lamb and beef.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31When it comes to things like religious differences or perhaps
0:11:31 > 0:11:34dietary requirements, then it's quite a serious issue, isn't it?
0:11:34 > 0:11:35It is a very serious issue.
0:11:35 > 0:11:41If I'm a Hindu, and I am served beef
0:11:41 > 0:11:45without being told this is a beef,
0:11:45 > 0:11:47then I'll be seriously offended
0:11:47 > 0:11:50because it does hurt my religious feelings.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54Hindus traditionally revere cows as a symbol of sustenance and life,
0:11:54 > 0:11:56so they don't eat them.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58And at this Hindu temple in Bradford,
0:11:58 > 0:12:01it's clear that eating beef, even unknowingly,
0:12:01 > 0:12:05would be a real problem for many of the Sikhs and Hindus who've come here today.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07If I would get
0:12:07 > 0:12:11served beef instead of lamb, I think I would be really furious about it,
0:12:11 > 0:12:14because that's against my religion, not to eat beef, for a start.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17You pay for something that you love to eat.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21Something that you like to have. When you get served something else,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24then obviously it's not right.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28As Hindus, beef is not on the menu in any way,
0:12:28 > 0:12:34because the cow has been the top most well-praised or well-respected
0:12:34 > 0:12:36animal in our faith.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39So any beef will be very, very offending to us.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46We have never eaten beef through generations,
0:12:46 > 0:12:52so it's something which is really out of our bounds.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54It's important that you get what you pay for,
0:12:54 > 0:12:56not just from a religious aspect but
0:12:56 > 0:13:01you wouldn't go into a pub and order a pint and then get some lemonade or
0:13:01 > 0:13:03something that has no alcohol in it.
0:13:03 > 0:13:04It's just basics of life.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07It's not a case of religion in this aspect,
0:13:07 > 0:13:09it's what you've paid for, generally.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14Well, we were keen to know if things had improved since the FSA
0:13:14 > 0:13:19investigation in 2015 and if some curry houses are still selling takeaways
0:13:19 > 0:13:22they say contain lamb but which do no such thing.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26So we've enlisted the help of this lab in Worcester,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29which tests food for local councils across the country.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33They can tell lamb from beef at molecular level.
0:13:33 > 0:13:38DNA work is about 50% of the work that we do in this laboratory.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42The authenticity of meat has carried on really since the horse meat scandal.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46Well, later in the programme, you can see what happened
0:13:46 > 0:13:48when we sent to the lab five curries
0:13:48 > 0:13:52that we bought from a cross-section of takeaways in Bradford,
0:13:52 > 0:13:56the city crowned curry capital of the year six years in a row.
0:13:57 > 0:13:59In terms of takeaways,
0:13:59 > 0:14:02a conscious decision has been made to substitute a cheaper meat
0:14:02 > 0:14:06for a more expensive meat. It's not an issue of contamination,
0:14:06 > 0:14:07or someone making a mistake.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09It's a pure and simple economic fraud.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16Now here's a question - who doesn't enjoy a taste of the high life?
0:14:16 > 0:14:19A bit of posh nosh to make a meal feel decadent
0:14:19 > 0:14:22or to impress that special someone.
0:14:22 > 0:14:23Well, I'm sure you've noticed that
0:14:23 > 0:14:27several of the things that used to be considered luxury food items
0:14:27 > 0:14:29and are now widely available for us all to enjoy,
0:14:29 > 0:14:32and sometimes at surprisingly reasonable prices.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35But it's clear from the e-mails we've received
0:14:35 > 0:14:38that I'm not the only one to have wondered how on earth they do it.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42So with some of you asking if we are genuinely getting what we think
0:14:42 > 0:14:45we are, and not a pale imitation, we've been sampling
0:14:45 > 0:14:48what at least appears to be some of the finer things in life.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59Lobster, truffles and caviar -
0:14:59 > 0:15:02once the preserve of the great and the good,
0:15:02 > 0:15:06but now sold by most major supermarkets in some shape or form,
0:15:06 > 0:15:09whether it's olive oil infused with their flavours
0:15:09 > 0:15:12or pasta dishes boasting them as ingredients.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14But can we be sure that everything we now see
0:15:14 > 0:15:17offered at more affordable prices is the real deal,
0:15:17 > 0:15:20or quite the exclusive taste we expect?
0:15:22 > 0:15:25One Rip-Off Britain viewer who enjoys indulging in
0:15:25 > 0:15:29some of life's finer things is jazz singer Alison Taylor,
0:15:29 > 0:15:33who lives in Perthshire. She has a penchant for truffles
0:15:33 > 0:15:36and on a recent trip to Italy was given some as a gift.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39But she wrote to us, curious as to whether what she's got
0:15:39 > 0:15:41is really the genuine article.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47Truffles, I have a big love affair with truffles,
0:15:47 > 0:15:48because they're so pungent
0:15:48 > 0:15:52and strong and nutty and earthy in their flavour.
0:15:52 > 0:15:53They're just so unique.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56And also the simplicity of the truffle on pasta,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59that's a massive plus for me. I love truffles.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01The food Alison loves so much
0:16:01 > 0:16:04is an edible fungi that grows underground.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08It has a very distinctive earthy taste and firm texture,
0:16:08 > 0:16:10and although there are many species,
0:16:10 > 0:16:13some are more prized for their flavour than others.
0:16:13 > 0:16:18It's safe to say Alison is a fan, but she knows that a jar this size
0:16:18 > 0:16:19wouldn't come cheap.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23In fact, single fresh truffles can cost around £30 each.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26So she wanted to savour them and use them sparingly.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31The jar of truffles sat in the fridge for a few weeks
0:16:31 > 0:16:33before we decided to open up the jar,
0:16:33 > 0:16:35and that was for a special occasion.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37So we really built up to this occasion -
0:16:37 > 0:16:39we'll have some fabulous pasta,
0:16:39 > 0:16:42we'll shave the truffle onto the pasta,
0:16:42 > 0:16:45and it was just such a big disappointment
0:16:45 > 0:16:47when the jar was finally opened.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51The pungent aroma Alison had fallen in love with
0:16:51 > 0:16:53during her time spent tasting truffles in Italy
0:16:53 > 0:16:56was, she felt, notably absent.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58I was expecting, when I opened the jar,
0:16:58 > 0:17:02to be walloped in the face with the smell of Italy
0:17:02 > 0:17:06and great food and this truffle sensation,
0:17:06 > 0:17:08but that just didn't happen.
0:17:09 > 0:17:14Instead, Alison felt her truffles had a more vinegary odour,
0:17:14 > 0:17:16which struck a real bum note with the singer,
0:17:16 > 0:17:18particularly after some rumours she had heard
0:17:18 > 0:17:20about some products on the market.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22Our close friends in Italy warned us
0:17:22 > 0:17:26that the Chinese had been sculpting potato into the shape of truffles
0:17:26 > 0:17:29and scenting them up and dyeing them.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31And we suspected that the truffles in our jar
0:17:31 > 0:17:33may have been potato that had been sculpted,
0:17:33 > 0:17:35which completely horrifies me.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37I would like to find out what's in the jar
0:17:37 > 0:17:39and if it's actually truffles.
0:17:39 > 0:17:40But the contents of her own jar
0:17:40 > 0:17:44isn't the only thing that's got Alison in a truffle kerfuffle.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47There's lots of truffle oils on the market as well.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51I'm interested to know whether it's authentic truffle,
0:17:51 > 0:17:53it's been scented up chemically,
0:17:53 > 0:17:56or if it's been scented with actual truffle proper,
0:17:56 > 0:17:58the essence of real truffle.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02Truffle expert Dr Paul Thomas
0:18:02 > 0:18:06is ready to unearth the truth behind Alison's truffle conundrum.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09He has a PhD in plant science
0:18:09 > 0:18:12and runs a company which cultivates truffles worldwide.
0:18:14 > 0:18:16Alison is here to meet him and do some digging of her own.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21I was gifted some truffles but when I opened up the jar,
0:18:21 > 0:18:23it didn't taste or smell of anything.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26What tends to happen with those products in the jars
0:18:26 > 0:18:28is they take the fresh truffles, they poach them in hot water,
0:18:28 > 0:18:30all the flavour goes into the water,
0:18:30 > 0:18:33a lot of the flavour goes into the water, they put that in a can
0:18:33 > 0:18:35and they sell that to chefs and they cook with it,
0:18:35 > 0:18:38and then they put the truffles into the jar and sell them to you and me.
0:18:38 > 0:18:39So by the time it's got into the jar,
0:18:39 > 0:18:41it's lost a lot of that wonderful aroma.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48Dr Thomas can also explain how it is that many of the truffle products
0:18:48 > 0:18:51on sale in supermarkets now seem so affordable.
0:18:52 > 0:18:54What they did in the '80s,
0:18:54 > 0:18:57they took one of the flavour compounds from truffles,
0:18:57 > 0:18:59they synthesised it and produced it artificially
0:18:59 > 0:19:02and then they started to produce truffle oil with it.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05So when you buy truffle oil, even though it says natural flavouring,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08they can call it natural flavouring, they can call it truffle extracts,
0:19:08 > 0:19:10they can call it truffle concentrate
0:19:10 > 0:19:12and it's pretty much always synthetic.
0:19:12 > 0:19:18So, do you think that's a good justification for the prices?
0:19:18 > 0:19:20Absolutely not.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22It's a very cheap product to produce.
0:19:22 > 0:19:23So we've asked Dr Thomas
0:19:23 > 0:19:26to take a look at a couple of supermarket products
0:19:26 > 0:19:29to see if the taste of luxury they appear to provide
0:19:29 > 0:19:31is all that it seems.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33First up, truffle pesto,
0:19:33 > 0:19:36that costs around £2.50 for a 90g jar -
0:19:36 > 0:19:39rather more than standard pesto.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43In the ingredients we've got here, we've got flavourings, ubiquitous,
0:19:43 > 0:19:45so that's probably some truffle flavouring within there.
0:19:45 > 0:19:49But also this one contains black summer truffle.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51You can see there's black specks in there.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53So you think that's actually the black truffle?
0:19:53 > 0:19:56Yeah, so, that should have a black truffle species in there.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58Probably a lot of the flavouring's coming from
0:19:58 > 0:20:02the synthetic flavour they put in, but that has real truffle in.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05Next up, some truffle-infused pasta, costing £3.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09This says it's got mushrooms in,
0:20:09 > 0:20:12truffle - 0.2%, so very small amounts.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15- Tiny!- And it doesn't even say the species, it says truffle,
0:20:15 > 0:20:18so this could legitimately be Chinese truffle,
0:20:18 > 0:20:20it could be French truffle, it could be Spanish truffle,
0:20:20 > 0:20:22it could be English truffle, anything.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24The likelihood is, it will be the cheapest.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27As a truffle producer, do you think there should be
0:20:27 > 0:20:31a tightening up of how truffles are described on products such as these?
0:20:31 > 0:20:32Yeah. I'd love to see that.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35The good things about these is it makes truffle flavour accessible.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38So you can get a rough approximation of what they taste like.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40So they're great to use at home, have a play around with,
0:20:40 > 0:20:42but just be mindful that real truffles,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45way more complex and a slightly different flavour profile.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47Speaking of real truffle,
0:20:47 > 0:20:49Alison's brought with her the ones she was given,
0:20:49 > 0:20:53to see whether Dr Thomas can tell if they are bona fide.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55I've actually brought them with me. Is that OK?
0:20:55 > 0:20:58Well, thank you very much. I mean, it's listed as summer truffle.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00It's even got the Latin name.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03But, yeah, we'd have to have a closer look, actually.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05I'll take them back and we'll try to extract some DNA
0:21:05 > 0:21:07so hopefully we can get some good material from that.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10- So we'll test them.- Great, Paul. I really appreciate that.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12Thank you for doing that for me.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15Dr Thomas will take Alison's truffles to his lab
0:21:15 > 0:21:17to see what he can find out.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21As for the other products he looked at,
0:21:21 > 0:21:25we asked the makers what actually goes into their truffle treats.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27Tesco didn't get back to us
0:21:27 > 0:21:30about its mushroom and truffle girasoli pasta.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32And Sacla, the makers of the truffle pesto,
0:21:32 > 0:21:36said that because truffles vary in flavour from season to season,
0:21:36 > 0:21:39it does use some flavouring, in addition to real truffle,
0:21:39 > 0:21:41to give it a consistent taste,
0:21:41 > 0:21:45and they told us the reason its truffle pesto was more expensive
0:21:45 > 0:21:47than regular pesto is partly because
0:21:47 > 0:21:50it has a higher cheese and nut content as well.
0:21:54 > 0:21:55Meanwhile, at his lab,
0:21:55 > 0:21:58Dr Thomas has completed his tests on Alison's truffles.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01Now, Alison is out of the country,
0:22:01 > 0:22:03so we've turned to technology to connect them up
0:22:03 > 0:22:06and find out if her suspicions are correct.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09Could what she hoped would be a much-loved treat
0:22:09 > 0:22:12really be potatoes posing as truffles?
0:22:12 > 0:22:15Oh, gosh, I'm quite anxious to hear what the news is.
0:22:15 > 0:22:17The key things really are, it was a truffle -
0:22:17 > 0:22:20- it wasn't a potato, it was a real truffle.- Oh, that's good.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23Well, I'm heartened to hear that it actually was a truffle.
0:22:23 > 0:22:24Yeah.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27But I'm just a wee bit concerned that it still tasted of nothing.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30Can you tell if the truffle actually came from Italy?
0:22:30 > 0:22:34So when we checked the spores we know that it's from Europe,
0:22:34 > 0:22:36but the sacs were quite empty,
0:22:36 > 0:22:38so a lot of the spores hadn't quite developed,
0:22:38 > 0:22:40so we know it was immature, so it had very little flavour,
0:22:40 > 0:22:43probably, when it went into the preservation process.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46And also, as you pointed out, you know, the smell really wasn't right,
0:22:46 > 0:22:49so something happened throughout the preservation process
0:22:49 > 0:22:51which rendered it bad.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55It had a bad aroma and not a truffle aroma, but it was the right species.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57Well, thank you so much, Paul,
0:22:57 > 0:23:00for shining some light on my truffle and where it came from
0:23:00 > 0:23:04and I'm really glad that it's actually a real truffle,
0:23:04 > 0:23:06and it is from where it said it's from.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10So after all it seems that Alison's truffle troubles
0:23:10 > 0:23:14were down to preservation problems, and, according to Dr Thomas,
0:23:14 > 0:23:17the contents of her jar being picked too young.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19And while that's good news for her,
0:23:19 > 0:23:23clearly it isn't always easy to know for sure if the food you've picked
0:23:23 > 0:23:25really is one of the finer things in life.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29What appears to be posh nosh may be no such thing.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31And while you might think that it doesn't really matter
0:23:31 > 0:23:33as long as the price is right and you enjoy it,
0:23:33 > 0:23:35later on in the programme,
0:23:35 > 0:23:37we'll hear why some people violently disagree.
0:23:38 > 0:23:43I can't see how that can be £2.50, that £5, and that £100,
0:23:43 > 0:23:45I just don't get it at all.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48Caviar is the salted roe of the sturgeon fish.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50It's not from the salmon, it's not from the trout,
0:23:50 > 0:23:53it's not from the lump fish or the catfish roe.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56They're worlds apart, worlds apart.
0:24:01 > 0:24:06Next, more on our investigation into food fraud, and specifically,
0:24:06 > 0:24:10curries that don't contain all the ingredients they should.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12Well, we ordered in a few takeaways ourselves
0:24:12 > 0:24:14and then sent them off to the lab for testing.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17And the results will have you wondering if what we discovered
0:24:17 > 0:24:19could even have happened to you.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25Earlier, we joined a team of hungry footballers and provided them with
0:24:25 > 0:24:30a very welcome post-match treat - an authentic Indian curry.
0:24:30 > 0:24:31So heads down,
0:24:31 > 0:24:35aim for the finishing line, and we want to know what you think of it.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39What our footballers didn't know is that we had substituted the lamb
0:24:39 > 0:24:43in their dishes for beef, and despite being seasoned curry lovers,
0:24:43 > 0:24:45not one of them guessed the truth.
0:24:45 > 0:24:46A bit shocked, really.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49There's no way I would have told the difference,
0:24:49 > 0:24:51it being beef, not lamb.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55But I think if I had found that out, quite distressing, really, to find.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58The fact that somebody in a restaurant is selling you meat,
0:24:58 > 0:24:59and you're not going to know.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04Now it's one thing to pull the wool over the eyes of a few footballers,
0:25:04 > 0:25:07as we did - quite another to do it to paying customers.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10But as we've discovered, that's exactly what
0:25:10 > 0:25:13the Food Standards Agency found was being done
0:25:13 > 0:25:16by a number of curry houses across the UK.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18Dishes sold as containing lamb
0:25:18 > 0:25:21in fact were made with cheaper beef, or chicken.
0:25:21 > 0:25:26It's false, and it's not a good thing in general,
0:25:26 > 0:25:29because people are obviously paying for this specific meat.
0:25:29 > 0:25:35I'm a Muslim person and the food I eat should be kosher or halal.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38If they said they're going serve you beef and then serve you lamb
0:25:38 > 0:25:41or the other way around, then they shouldn't have done that.
0:25:41 > 0:25:42It's kind of like cheating.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44Yeah, I don't think that's good.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47Mainly for, like, religious people who wouldn't eat, say, beef,
0:25:47 > 0:25:49and also just for health reasons, you know.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51Some people prefer to eat white meat.
0:25:51 > 0:25:52And it's just like the moral of it -
0:25:52 > 0:25:55ethically, you would rather know what you're eating.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57Well, it's been over three years
0:25:57 > 0:26:01since the horse meat scandal prompted the Food Standards Agency
0:26:01 > 0:26:04to carry out its study into the whole issue of food fraud.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07So we thought it was time to see what's changed
0:26:07 > 0:26:10on the curry front, at least.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12And where better to conduct our research than Bradford,
0:26:12 > 0:26:15the town that's been crowned the UK's curry capital
0:26:15 > 0:26:17for six consecutive years.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Firstly, we randomly selected five takeaways
0:26:22 > 0:26:26which advertise lamb curries on their menus or online.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30Posing as customers, we bought a lamb curry from each of them,
0:26:30 > 0:26:33then took the dishes directly to a lab in Worcester.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36It will be down to scientist Donna Hanks
0:26:36 > 0:26:39to determine if the meat dishes we were sold
0:26:39 > 0:26:41consist of the meat we asked for.
0:26:41 > 0:26:47The test works by extracting DNA from the meat.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51We do this by taking the meat from the samples that you brought us...
0:26:52 > 0:26:55..mixing it with some special chemicals which will break down
0:26:55 > 0:26:58the structure of the meat to release the DNA.
0:26:58 > 0:27:03When the DNA is released, we can then run it on a special machine
0:27:03 > 0:27:07that will look at specific small pieces of DNA
0:27:07 > 0:27:10for each species that we are looking for.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16Donna tests the meat of each of the five curries in turn.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22So now we can work with this to see what species are in there.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25Once the meat has been under the microscope,
0:27:25 > 0:27:28it's time for the moment of truth.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31Will any of the five takeaways we bought as lamb
0:27:31 > 0:27:34actually contain any other meats?
0:27:35 > 0:27:39The test leaves no doubt that beef has been substituted for lamb
0:27:39 > 0:27:42in two out of the five curries.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47Three of our five takeaways did contain lamb.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51But the other two contained absolutely no lamb at all.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53The results have been quite shocking.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56We've seen problems with substitution of meat
0:27:56 > 0:27:59from takeaways before but never quite on this scale.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04To see if what we found was simply a mistake or a one-off,
0:28:04 > 0:28:07we went back to the two Bradford curry houses
0:28:07 > 0:28:09that sold us the fake lamb dishes.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12Once again, posing as customers,
0:28:12 > 0:28:14we asked for a lamb curry in both.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16On our second visit to one of them,
0:28:16 > 0:28:20we were told that they didn't sell lamb, so we left empty-handed.
0:28:21 > 0:28:22We later contacted the owner
0:28:22 > 0:28:26to see why we had previously been sold a lamb curry containing beef,
0:28:26 > 0:28:29but have had no response to our letters and phone calls.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35But it was a different story in the second takeaway.
0:28:35 > 0:28:36We asked for a lamb curry,
0:28:36 > 0:28:39and we were sold one without question
0:28:39 > 0:28:42but when this second curry was tested at the lab,
0:28:42 > 0:28:44once again, it turned out to be beef.
0:28:47 > 0:28:51Well, we took our evidence to West Yorkshire Trading Standards
0:28:51 > 0:28:54and with a potential case of food fraud in their hands
0:28:54 > 0:28:56the team got straight on the case.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00So I'm on my way to a takeaway to carry out a test purchase,
0:29:00 > 0:29:03to see if the takeaway is describing it correctly or not.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07Senior Trading Standards officer Jo Hamer,
0:29:07 > 0:29:11is at the coalface of food fraud on a daily basis.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14Her team investigates between 10 and 20 cases
0:29:14 > 0:29:16of this kind of fraud every year,
0:29:16 > 0:29:19so she sees first-hand the lengths that some businesses will go to
0:29:19 > 0:29:21to cut their costs.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24It's a tough job for Trading Standards officers
0:29:24 > 0:29:27at the moment with the economy how it is.
0:29:27 > 0:29:32There's more reason, I suppose, for businesses to cut corners
0:29:32 > 0:29:34to try and win a quick buck here and there.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37Jo is going back to the curry house
0:29:37 > 0:29:40that twice sold us meat that it claimed was lamb,
0:29:40 > 0:29:42though the tests proved it was beef.
0:29:42 > 0:29:44She's going to order another lamb dish
0:29:44 > 0:29:47to see if the same thing happens again.
0:29:47 > 0:29:49We're going to test the meat for speciation,
0:29:49 > 0:29:52which is to test what meat it is,
0:29:52 > 0:29:54to see if the takeaway is describing it correctly or not.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56Depending on what happens,
0:29:56 > 0:29:58if they've got no defence, or mitigation,
0:29:58 > 0:29:59then we'll instigate proceedings,
0:29:59 > 0:30:04whether that be a form of caution or any other legal action against them.
0:30:05 > 0:30:09Jo makes a start by ordering up the curry over the phone.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12Hi. Can I place an order for collection, please?
0:30:12 > 0:30:14A lamb curry, please.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18Medium, please. Yes, please.
0:30:19 > 0:30:20Brilliant. Thank you. Bye.
0:30:24 > 0:30:25Posing as a customer,
0:30:25 > 0:30:29Jo goes in and buys what the shop says is a lamb curry
0:30:29 > 0:30:32and at no point while she was buying it
0:30:32 > 0:30:35did anyone say it would be anything other than lamb.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39Once the purchase is complete, she reveals who she is,
0:30:39 > 0:30:43the friendly neighbourhood Trading Standards officer.
0:30:43 > 0:30:46Then it's off to a different lab for Jo's takeaway,
0:30:46 > 0:30:50where Dr Duncan Campbell is tasked with testing it.
0:30:50 > 0:30:54Over the years, Dr Campbell's work has helped convict food fraud cases.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58In terms of takeaways,
0:30:58 > 0:31:01a conscious decision has been made to substitute a cheaper meat
0:31:01 > 0:31:02for an expensive meat.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05It's not an issue of contamination or someone making a mistake.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08Generally, when the incident is investigated,
0:31:08 > 0:31:13it's found that the owner of the takeaway is buying beef,
0:31:13 > 0:31:18knows that beef is being bought, the menu description says lamb.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20It's a pure and simple economic fraud.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23After conducting a DNA test on the third curry
0:31:23 > 0:31:27this particular establishment supplied, the results are in.
0:31:27 > 0:31:32The curry was tested for speciation, so it was tested for the presence
0:31:32 > 0:31:34of cow, goat, pig, and sheep,
0:31:34 > 0:31:38and it's only found that there was cow present in the sample.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41As with the two previous curries that we bought,
0:31:41 > 0:31:43beef was the only meat present.
0:31:43 > 0:31:47There was absolutely no lamb.
0:31:47 > 0:31:49So it wasn't a particular surprise to me, unfortunately.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52It is quite prevalent throughout West Yorkshire.
0:31:52 > 0:31:54We've done quite a bit of sampling in this area and have found
0:31:54 > 0:31:57quite a few cases that have been beef, as opposed to lamb.
0:31:59 > 0:32:03We contacted the takeaway for an explanation but it made no comment.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07Yorkshire's Trading Standards team will keep contacting the business
0:32:07 > 0:32:10and aim to work with it to improve its food practices.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13If the business doesn't respond or make improvements,
0:32:13 > 0:32:15further action will be taken.
0:32:16 > 0:32:19But with food fraud still an issue right across the country,
0:32:19 > 0:32:23Trading Standards here isn't relying on simply a punitive approach
0:32:23 > 0:32:25to get it under control.
0:32:25 > 0:32:27With offences such as these,
0:32:27 > 0:32:31we've been working with an alternative resolution,
0:32:31 > 0:32:32which has been to offer them a caution,
0:32:32 > 0:32:35but then also visiting the premises to get their compliance,
0:32:35 > 0:32:38to educate them so that they can comply
0:32:38 > 0:32:42and we've seen much better results in these than just going to court
0:32:42 > 0:32:46because we're working with the takeaway, as well, to get it right.
0:32:46 > 0:32:50But if that doesn't work, tougher action may be required.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52When a business commits food fraud,
0:32:52 > 0:32:54depending on what offences we took to court,
0:32:54 > 0:32:59the outcome of that could be a considerable fine or imprisonment.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01As well as that, it will most likely be in the media.
0:33:01 > 0:33:02So it's the bad publicity
0:33:02 > 0:33:05and potential representational damage to the business.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08Well, what we've found suggests there may well be plenty more
0:33:08 > 0:33:11curry houses substituting cheaper meat
0:33:11 > 0:33:13for the kind that you've paid for,
0:33:13 > 0:33:16and while, as we've seen, that is not always simple to spot,
0:33:16 > 0:33:19if you have any cause to suspect food fraud,
0:33:19 > 0:33:23it is worth getting in touch with your local Trading Standards,
0:33:23 > 0:33:24or, indeed, with us.
0:33:30 > 0:33:34There are several ways to contact us with any of your food concerns.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37Or, indeed, if you've got a story that you'd like us to investigate,
0:33:37 > 0:33:40you can get in touch via our Facebook page,
0:33:40 > 0:33:42which is BBC Rip Off Britain,
0:33:42 > 0:33:46our website... bbc.co.uk/ripoffbritain,
0:33:46 > 0:33:50or e-mail us at ripoffbritain@bbc.co.uk.
0:33:50 > 0:33:53Or if you'd rather send us a letter, then our postal address is...
0:34:04 > 0:34:07Getting value for money is a subject very close to my own heart
0:34:07 > 0:34:09and judging from your letters and e-mails,
0:34:09 > 0:34:11it's something that you care passionately about, as well.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13When every penny counts,
0:34:13 > 0:34:16we want to give you the confidence to spend it wisely.
0:34:16 > 0:34:18So this next story will do just that.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23As we heard earlier in the programme,
0:34:23 > 0:34:25it does seem to be getting easier to treat ourselves
0:34:25 > 0:34:27to some of the finer things in life.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31But increased availability may not always mean
0:34:31 > 0:34:34we're getting quite the luxury goods we think we're paying for.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38So on our quest to sort the best wheat from the cheap chaff,
0:34:38 > 0:34:41we're delving deeper into the luxury food market,
0:34:41 > 0:34:45to see how we can work out if what we're buying is the real deal
0:34:45 > 0:34:46or, indeed, worth it?
0:34:48 > 0:34:50And it seems that, like me,
0:34:50 > 0:34:54many of you are always on the hunt for more for less.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57Obviously if somebody said there is some cheap posh nosh going,
0:34:57 > 0:35:00like a fiver for a lobster, I'd buy it, yeah.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03I don't really value caviar and lobster,
0:35:03 > 0:35:05mainly because I'm a normal eater
0:35:05 > 0:35:09and I value normal foods like fruit and vegetables.
0:35:09 > 0:35:13If I go to a more high-end posh supermarket, salmon,
0:35:13 > 0:35:15I can think, can be £6, £7.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18But then you can go to a more budget store
0:35:18 > 0:35:20and you can get it for £3 or £4.
0:35:20 > 0:35:24So it is a luxury food but it's obtainable, as well,
0:35:24 > 0:35:26at a cheaper price.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29Maybe it's worth paying for for some people but not, like, other people.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32Not people who, you know, walk through this market now and then.
0:35:34 > 0:35:38So to discover what makes posh nosh...well, posh,
0:35:38 > 0:35:41we've come to meet Angela Clutton, a food historian,
0:35:41 > 0:35:45who's studied how our eating habits have changed throughout the ages.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48It all depends on what's happening in society.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51Back when people used to grow their own carrots and peas,
0:35:51 > 0:35:53there is nothing posh about being able to do that
0:35:53 > 0:35:57but what would have been posh, is late 1800s, turn of the century,
0:35:57 > 0:36:01you were able to have pineapples - something exotic on your table
0:36:01 > 0:36:04because you had a hothouse, or a greenhouse, to be able to do that.
0:36:04 > 0:36:06That was posh, that showed your status.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10When food is difficult to get hold of,
0:36:10 > 0:36:13the price of getting your hands on it will usually go up.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15But that's not the only reason
0:36:15 > 0:36:17certain foods attract a luxury status.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20Almost any item of food could be posh,
0:36:20 > 0:36:23if it just has to fulfil a few particular criteria.
0:36:23 > 0:36:25It could be that it's expensive.
0:36:25 > 0:36:27It could be that it's particularly seasonal,
0:36:27 > 0:36:28or from a particular place,
0:36:28 > 0:36:31or, sometimes, it could be that a certain kind of person enjoys it,
0:36:31 > 0:36:34and that's the aspirational lifestyle that people want,
0:36:34 > 0:36:36in order to make it posh.
0:36:36 > 0:36:38Angela believes that, across the centuries,
0:36:38 > 0:36:42it's supply and demand that's had the biggest impact on food trends,
0:36:42 > 0:36:44particularly when it comes to seafood.
0:36:44 > 0:36:46Oysters are a posh food.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50They have had status but that very much didn't used to be the case.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54In the 1700s and the 1800s, we were awash with oysters.
0:36:54 > 0:36:56They were coming from Whitstable, from the Firth of Forth,
0:36:56 > 0:36:59there were millions of them coming in on the new railways.
0:36:59 > 0:37:00It was the food for the poor.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03It appeared in Lancashire hotpot, shepherd's pie, cottage pie,
0:37:03 > 0:37:06but because they were so popular, they were over-sourced,
0:37:06 > 0:37:08the supply dwindled.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11So, now, we see that what happened to the status of those oysters
0:37:11 > 0:37:13when there's fewer of them
0:37:13 > 0:37:15and that's why now today we think of oysters
0:37:15 > 0:37:16as being something which is posh.
0:37:18 > 0:37:20In fact today, oysters are so in demand
0:37:20 > 0:37:23that we've found restaurants charging a whopping
0:37:23 > 0:37:26£34 for half a dozen.
0:37:26 > 0:37:28That's over £5 for one morsel.
0:37:28 > 0:37:32But, fear not, as oysters become unaffordable for many of us,
0:37:32 > 0:37:35there's another seafood treat that you might be surprised
0:37:35 > 0:37:38is increasingly within the grasp of all budgets,
0:37:38 > 0:37:40and that's lobster - one of my favourites -
0:37:40 > 0:37:42and it's all thanks to conditions
0:37:42 > 0:37:44which have allowed lobsters to thrive.
0:37:44 > 0:37:47In the Atlantic, their major predators have been overfished.
0:37:47 > 0:37:51So with fewer cod coming after them and warmer seas to grow in,
0:37:51 > 0:37:54there's no shortage of lobster.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57There is a huge supply, so with cheaper lobster coming in
0:37:57 > 0:37:58from the Atlantic waters,
0:37:58 > 0:38:02that might now, for the first time, really change the status of lobster
0:38:02 > 0:38:04and it might not be posh.
0:38:05 > 0:38:07While they're not quite ten a penny yet,
0:38:07 > 0:38:10there are certainly a greater number of special offers
0:38:10 > 0:38:12and deals on them in supermarkets.
0:38:13 > 0:38:16A few months ago, Lidl ran a promotion,
0:38:16 > 0:38:19offering lobster for £2.99.
0:38:19 > 0:38:22And in Iceland you can currently pick one up for even less,
0:38:22 > 0:38:24just £2.49.
0:38:24 > 0:38:26Half the price it was in 2014.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31And there's another culinary treasure you'll increasingly find
0:38:31 > 0:38:33nestled between the tinned tuna and whitebait.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36It's caviar - but this one's a little more complicated,
0:38:36 > 0:38:39and not just because of its price.
0:38:39 > 0:38:43In one store we found caviar on sale for just £2.50.
0:38:43 > 0:38:48Yet, in another, it will set you back over £200.
0:38:48 > 0:38:49So, what's the difference?
0:38:49 > 0:38:54Well, one person who considers those cheaper varieties decidedly fishy
0:38:54 > 0:38:55is Kenneth Benning,
0:38:55 > 0:38:59who owns the UK's only Beluga caviar farm in Exmoor in Devon.
0:38:59 > 0:39:03He's unhappy that the word caviar is now used to describe
0:39:03 > 0:39:07the fish eggs, or roe, of more species than he thinks is correct.
0:39:07 > 0:39:11Caviar is the salted roe of the sturgeon fish.
0:39:11 > 0:39:14It's not from the salmon, it's not from the trout,
0:39:14 > 0:39:16it's not from the lumpfish or the catfish.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19It's a very specific fish and a very specific product.
0:39:19 > 0:39:20And there's a reason for that.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23If you actually compare the two of them together,
0:39:23 > 0:39:27the salmon roe or a trout roe with caviar from the sturgeon fish,
0:39:27 > 0:39:29caviar, they are worlds apart.
0:39:29 > 0:39:31Worlds apart.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36And that goes for the price, as well.
0:39:36 > 0:39:38Because Kenneth's caviar
0:39:38 > 0:39:42will set you back around £250 for a 125g tin.
0:39:42 > 0:39:44A figure which the farmer says
0:39:44 > 0:39:47is justified by the cost in producing it.
0:39:47 > 0:39:49Caviar is an expensive product.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52It takes nine, ten years to produce this product.
0:39:52 > 0:39:54OK? And you've got to feed it every day, et cetera.
0:39:54 > 0:39:58And in farming terms, it's a risky and expensive product to produce.
0:39:58 > 0:40:00Catfish roe, we're talking months.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02Salmon, we're talking less than a year.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05You know, you've got to take the basics of the feeding costs
0:40:05 > 0:40:08and the feeding costs of eight years versus one year.
0:40:08 > 0:40:10You'll get an idea why caviar costs so much money.
0:40:12 > 0:40:16The Government department DEFRA says caviar is traditionally associated
0:40:16 > 0:40:18with the sturgeon fish,
0:40:18 > 0:40:21but it also says that the word caviar can be used
0:40:21 > 0:40:26as a generic term to describe the roe from other fish species as well.
0:40:26 > 0:40:27In such cases, however,
0:40:27 > 0:40:31the packaging should clarify which species the eggs are from
0:40:31 > 0:40:34and, in 2014, Aldi did cross the line
0:40:34 > 0:40:38when it claimed to be selling a bargain Beluga caviar,
0:40:38 > 0:40:41that was actually from a different type of sturgeon.
0:40:41 > 0:40:45After an outcry from experts and negative press coverage,
0:40:45 > 0:40:49the store was forced to relabel the lot.
0:40:49 > 0:40:51And while you might think none of this matters
0:40:51 > 0:40:54if you're getting a tasty treat at an affordable price,
0:40:54 > 0:40:57we're curious as to whether shoppers know the difference
0:40:57 > 0:41:00between some of the fish eggs currently on offer.
0:41:00 > 0:41:02So we've taken to the streets
0:41:02 > 0:41:05armed with three different types of caviar.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09A 50g tin of Kenneth's Beluga, costing almost £100.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12Salmon caviar, priced at a fiver,
0:41:12 > 0:41:15and a lumpfish caviar costing £2.50.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18Will this lot know their sturgeon from their salmon?
0:41:20 > 0:41:23It's what it says on the tin, caviar!
0:41:23 > 0:41:25Well, that's a different colour.
0:41:25 > 0:41:27That's salmon, and that's Cornish salted.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30- Whatever that means? - Is it more expensive?
0:41:30 > 0:41:32Well, I don't think all three are the same
0:41:32 > 0:41:34because the labelling suggests
0:41:34 > 0:41:36that they come from different fish families.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39The Exmoor caviar is a genuine one
0:41:40 > 0:41:43and the other two products are a derivative.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46Really, this can't be caviar, can it?
0:41:46 > 0:41:50I can't see how that can be £2.50, £5, and that £100?
0:41:50 > 0:41:52I just don't get it at all.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56Now, of course all these brands do meet current regulations
0:41:56 > 0:41:59and can legitimately be sold as caviar.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03But the reactions we had suggest that some foods
0:42:03 > 0:42:06do still have a luxury connotation.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09And, perhaps, sometimes, we quite like it that way.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12So if you like a slice of the high life,
0:42:12 > 0:42:16the best advice is to shop clever and, as ever, check those labels.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19Because as we've seen, while there are bargains to be had,
0:42:19 > 0:42:21clearly there are all kinds of reasons
0:42:21 > 0:42:24why posh food suddenly becomes affordable
0:42:24 > 0:42:26and, in some cases, it might mean
0:42:26 > 0:42:29it's no longer quite as posh as you would like.
0:42:29 > 0:42:35Well, that's just about all we have time for today
0:42:35 > 0:42:39but thanks to everybody who shared their experience,
0:42:39 > 0:42:41or suggested a story for us to investigate.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45I'll certainly be double checking the meat in my meals from now on.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47But at least we do know where to turn
0:42:47 > 0:42:51if it seems we might have been a victim of food fraud.
0:42:51 > 0:42:53And if you missed the details of that earlier,
0:42:53 > 0:42:54well, it's very easy,
0:42:54 > 0:42:56because you can find them on our website, which,
0:42:56 > 0:43:01just to remind you, is bbc.co.uk/ripoffbritain
0:43:02 > 0:43:05And if you've got something you'd like us to look into on your behalf,
0:43:05 > 0:43:08about food or anything else, then please do let us know.
0:43:08 > 0:43:12We really appreciate all the e-mails and letters that you send us
0:43:12 > 0:43:13and we'll be back to investigate
0:43:13 > 0:43:16more of the things you've asked us about, very soon.
0:43:16 > 0:43:17But until then, from all of us here,
0:43:17 > 0:43:21- thanks for watching and goodbye. - Bye.- Bye.