Episode 13 Watchdog Test House


Episode 13

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Take a look around your home.

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Can you be sure that every appliance is safe?

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Is everything a company tells you about a product true?

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And are you getting the best value for your money?

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With the help of the country's top experts,

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we're going to see what it takes to test the household products

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we use every day.

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We'll discover how they're pushed to their limits.

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We'll put the makers' claims on trial.

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And show you how to make your money go further.

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You'll find these products in any ordinary house.

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But this is no ordinary house

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and no ordinary street.

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This is the...

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Hello, we're deep inside one of Britain's leading science centres.

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Here at the Building Research Establishment,

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some of the products and materials that we use every day

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are put to the test, to make sure that they're safe,

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environmentally-friendly and that they don't fall apart.

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Coming up on today's programme...

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Mobile phones, they all need charging.

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There was white smoke and a strong smell coming from the area

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where the charger had been plugged in.

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The latest crackdown on illegal chargers coming onto the market.

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I'm going to issue you something called a suspension notice for them,

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which means you're not allowed to sell

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that particular style of charger any more.

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Is it worth paying nearly £300 for a juicer?

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Or will one for less than £25 perform just as well?

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And from salmonella in eggs to the horse meat scandal,

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will food testing ever go far enough

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to ensure that we know exactly what's in our food?

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More than two million people receive an electric shock

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from an appliance every year

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and thousands of them are seriously injured.

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That's why making sure all electrical products on sale

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are safe is a vital part of the job for Trading Standards.

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We've been out with officers in Newcastle,

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to see how they're tackling, head-on,

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the problem of dodgy mobile phone chargers.

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Mobile phones, we've all got one.

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In fact, there are currently over 80 million of them

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in use across the UK.

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All of which need charging.

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Chris Cliff went online to buy a charger for his Samsung phone.

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It came, it looked genuine,

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it had all the genuine Samsung details on it.

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And I plugged it downstairs in the living room.

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But within ten minutes,

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all the electricity had switched off in the house.

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A fault with the charger

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had caused the safety switch on his fuse box to trip.

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There was white smoke and a strong smell coming

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from the area where the charger had been plugged in.

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You could see the burn marks round the adaptor,

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so I opened it up and you could see where it had all melted inside.

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The charger may have looked genuine,

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but Samsung later confirmed it was, in fact, a fake.

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Luckily, Chris had got to the charger quickly

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and unplugged it before it could cause any serious damage

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to his home or his family.

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But cheap and counterfeit chargers have been known to start fires

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and, even, electrocute people.

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It, sort of, took me back a little bit to think, potentially,

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what could have happened and how dangerous it could have been.

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For Trading Standards, removing products like this from the market

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is a top priority.

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They seized more than 10,000 mobile phone accessories last year.

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Mobile phone chargers have been an issue for a long time now

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and there seems to be an increase.

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We seem to have a spate of sub-standard chargers

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floating around the market at the moment.

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Today, Paul is carrying out spot checks on a number of traders

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thought to be selling suspect chargers in the Newcastle area.

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Paul goes into the shop, undercover, to buy the goods.

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Just an iPhone 5 charger, please.

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Nice one, thank you very much. Cheers. See you later.

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He also buys a second charger from a different shop

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and already has concerns.

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Both of them fairly non-descript, but there are some key markings

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that are missing off this one, in particular.

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There is a requirement for plugs to have certain markings on them

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and if the markings aren't there,

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you can guarantee that the way they've manufactured them

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on the inside is probably going to have some bits missing, as well.

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So the chargers are taken to the lab for testing

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and we'll be bringing you the results later.

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If they're found to be unsafe,

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it'll be up to Paul to get them removed from the market.

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A nice glass of freshly-squeezed apple juice.

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If you buy one of these in a cafe or restaurant,

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it'll set you back a few pounds,

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which is why you may have thought about investing

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in one of these - a juicer.

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Now, you can spend less than £25 or you can buy one for almost £300.

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So, how do they compare?

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Guess what, Sophie? We're going to find out the answer to that question

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by putting some of these juicers to the test.

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The cheapest we could find - the Cookworks KP400 Juicer for £24.99.

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Yes, that's just £24.99.

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A mid-range product - the Philips Viva Collection HR1863 Juicer

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at £99.99.

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And, at the top end of the market,

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the Sage by Heston Blumenthal Nutri Juicer Pro, clocking in at £299.95.

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First up, we're going to test them for taste and texture.

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Well, when I say "we", I mean, them -

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some yoga volunteers, in tune with a healthy lifestyle.

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We've made three glasses of apple juice

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and three glasses of carrot juice, using our three products,

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according to the manufacturers' instructions.

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When it comes to taste and texture,

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which apple juice will our nine volunteers like the best?

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For flavour, I think, A.

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I think C has the best texture and B is the best taste.

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I definitely pick A. Easy to drink and it's not stressful.

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I hate a stressful juice.

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The Sage Heston Blumenthal juicer, our most expensive product,

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was the clear winner, with seven of our nine volunteers voting it

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the best for both flavour and texture.

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The juice tasted sweeter.

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There was a lot less bits in there.

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It was just easier to drink.

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But in second place for flavour was the Cookworks juicer,

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our cheapest product,

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with the mid-range Philips coming last.

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And it was a similar result for the carrots.

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I don't know. I think they're, kind of, equal.

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But A is definitely the favourite.

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I think I like B better.

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I like the flavour of A best.

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Once again, the most expensive Sage machine came top,

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with six out of nine voting it the best for flavour

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and seven out of nine the best texture.

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And it's another second-place finish for our cheapest product,

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the Cookworks juicer, with three volunteers

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voting it the best for flavour and two for texture.

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Philips, once again, came last.

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So, overall, Sage was the clear winner in this one-off test.

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Oh, I knew I had expensive taste.

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£300 is quite a lot, but it did a very good job.

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But at a fifth of the price of the Philips

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and under a tenth of the price of the Sage,

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it's not a bad result for the Cookworks juicer in second place.

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No way. Unbelievable.

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£30 versus £300 is quite a big difference.

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Well, I guess, you know, price doesn't define the quality.

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So our yoga class has spoken about taste and consistency.

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But, as this is just a snapshot,

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we're heading to the lab, to test the machines in three categories...

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..to see which one of our products

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produces the most juice per kilogram of fruit or veg,

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which one works the quickest

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and which is easiest to clean and put away.

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Find out the answers to these questions later on in the programme.

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Now, last year, it was horse meat in our burgers.

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In the '90s, it was BSE in beef.

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And, before that, it was salmonella in eggs.

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We've had our fair share of food scandals over the years

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and you may wonder when will we ever be sure

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about exactly what's in our food? Here's Lynn Faulds Wood.

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-'Welcome to Watchdog.'

-On tonight's programme.

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'All these people have written to us.'

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'Now time to say hello again to these delightful little creatures.

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'Hard to imagine, isn't it, that they could cause us any harm?

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'But one day, they could. For, amongst poultry like this,

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'there's now a disease which is reaching epidemic proportions.'

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The year was 1988 and my husband John was talking about salmonella -

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a bacterium found in eggs that can cause fever, vomiting and diarrhoea.

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Health Minister Edwina Currie had just announced

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most of the eggs produced in this country were affected.

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The egg industry was in turmoil.

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Four million hens and 400 million eggs were destroyed.

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But it wasn't the last food scare that we'd see on Watchdog.

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And it certainly wasn't the first scare we'd seen in this country.

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In the mid-19th century, people were pouring into the cities.

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They lived in small rooms, with few cooking facilities,

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and relied on pre-packaged food and an army of street vendors.

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With fierce competition and no controls on quality,

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unscrupulous traders tried to boost profits by bulking out food

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with things nobody should be eating.

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Lead was added to cheese, wine and cider.

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Bread was made whiter and heavier by adding plaster of Paris,

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chalk or alum - a compound used in detergents.

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Although alum was not poisonous in and of itself,

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it's widely believed that it made digestion less effective

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and so, people weren't getting the nutrients and, obviously,

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that's particularly injurious to children.

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A lot of colourings, in particular,

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were made from metal salts and they were actually poisonous.

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Scary. But chemical research and legislation was evolving

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and, eventually, in 1875, came the Sale of Food and Drugs Act.

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For the first time, local authorities were required

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to appoint food inspectors called public analysts.

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They could go into grocers, take samples to analyse,

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go back to their laboratories and look at them.

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They'd do this through looking at it in a microscope,

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through chemical tests. So that meant that traders

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were threatened with the prospect of random sampling

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and the prospect of prosecution

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if their goods were found to be not as described.

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The Act would form the basis of food law for the next 70 years.

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At the turn of the century, brands began to dominate the grocery market.

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And, to protect these brands,

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companies did their own extensive testing.

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Meanwhile, legislation developed bit by bit,

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until, in 1955, the Food and Drugs Act brought all the rules

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about composition, labelling and the sale of food together.

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Food markets were evolving,

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food was becoming, gradually, a little more complex.

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Technology was advancing, both in terms of food

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and in terms of analysis, so legislation is always

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behind technology, so, every now and again, there had to be a really

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big catch-up, just to consolidate everything and make it relevant.

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In the '70s, frozen foods started to appear on the supermarket shelves

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and, in 1979, Marks & Spencer was pioneering the chilled ready meal.

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By the 1980s,

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other retailers were adopting the standards they'd developed.

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In just over 100 years, we'd made giant strides

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in food technology and safety.

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But any complacency we might have been feeling about

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the safety of our food was soon to be shattered.

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The farming industry was about to face decades of problems

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and it all started with these.

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'Some experts are now seriously questioning

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'whether we should eat eggs at all.'

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It took ten years before the industry really got its act together.

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In 1998, the British Lion mark had arrived

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showing hens had been vaccinated against salmonella.

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This dramatically reduced the number of cases in the UK.

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But there was a worse crisis to come.

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'Next, mad cow disease - BSE.'

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'Every week, up to 300 suspected new cases in British cattle.

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'The question, is it crossing from cattle to humans

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and causing the notorious Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease,

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known as CJD, which destroys the brain?

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The short answer was yes.

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But it was a year before the government admitted the link.

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The EU banned British beef exports and millions of cows were destroyed.

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BSE spread because farmers had been giving cows feed containing

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ground-up animal parts.

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It was a crisis too many and the government took action.

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There was a perception, during the BSE crisis,

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that the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food

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couldn't represent the interests of British agriculture,

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British farmers and the consumer.

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So, in 2001, the Food Standards Agency was set up.

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The Food Standards Agency - its sole purpose

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is to protect consumers' interests in relation to food.

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But if the hope was the FSA would end all problems,

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there was no such luck.

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Hello, good afternoon.

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The Environment Minister says he is absolutely determined

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to get answers about food testing in the UK

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at a summit examining the horse meat scandal.

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In January 2013, stores across the country had to remove products

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labelled "beef", after tests revealed they contained horse meat.

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I think there's been a realisation across the whole EU

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that the focus has been on food safety issues,

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which, obviously, are clearly very important,

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but at the expense of other things to do with the standard of food -

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its authenticity, whether it is fraudulent or not.

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Distasteful as many found the horse meat affair,

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nobody's health was put at risk.

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What it showed was how difficult it can be to monitor food

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that's been processed through several countries.

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Today, manufacturers up and down the country have improved their processes

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and many now do now test our food for horse meat.

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But is it only a matter of time before Watchdog's investigating

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the next scare? Let's hope not.

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Now, teeth. How do you look after yours?

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Do you use an electric toothbrush or the cheapest one you can find?

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Do you floss or use mouthwash?

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With hundreds of products on sale,

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what should we be looking out for to make sure our teeth are sparkling?

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Well, with me now

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is Professor Walmsley, from the British Dental Association.

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Now, you can spend a lot on a toothbrush,

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you can spend virtually nothing,

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these are some relatively cheap ones, but you could get one

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for £200, if it was electric. Does it matter how much you spend?

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It's not necessarily how much you spend,

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it's how you use the toothbrushes.

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Most people say two minutes as a time,

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so you put a timer on for two minutes and you've got to go systematically.

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Getting the back molar teeth is really important,

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so working from the back to the front, parts next to your cheek,

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parts next your palate and your tongue and the lips.

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So, these ones, they're very cheap,

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-they could do the same job as an electric one.

-They could.

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They're a little bit on the large side. You want a small head,

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so you can get into the back of the mouth

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and brush those hard-to-reach places.

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And you need the bristles to be about soft to medium.

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And that's really what you need to be looking for in a toothbrush.

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There is some evidence to show that, if people spend the money,

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they are more motivated - and that's a good thing -

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but it's always a good idea to get checked with your dentist

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that you're brushing your teeth in a proper way.

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What about the toothpaste that you choose to use with your brush?

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Again, there are so many to choose from.

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What is the important thing to go for?

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It's really important to have a toothpaste that's got fluoride in.

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Cos we just know that fluoride works and it helps to strengthen teeth,

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so that's the most important thing to look for.

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There are toothpastes that help to stop sensitive teeth,

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there's whitening toothpastes, too,

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but, if you're going to use any of those, check with your dentist first.

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It's really important.

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But there's also flossing, there's mouthwash, is that as important?

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They have their place,

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but you've still got to get the brushing done first.

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-Professor Walmsley, thank you.

-Thank you.

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Back now to juicers.

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Earlier, we put three of them to the test.

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When it comes to taste and texture,

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the most expensive one came out on top

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and the cheapest one beat the mid-range product into second place.

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But the testing is not over yet.

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It's certainly not, Sophie. It's time to get technical.

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Dr Nazanin Zand has helped us devise some tough tests for our machines.

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Today, we are going to conduct a comparison between three different

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juicers which are currently available on the market.

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These three juicers are - our cheapest product,

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the Cookworks KP400 Juicer at £24.99,

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a mid-range product, the Philips Viva Collection HR1863 Juicer,

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costing £99.99,

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and, at the top end of the market,

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the Sage by Heston Blumenthal Nutri Juicer Pro,

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which sets you back £299.95.

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First, we'll be looking at how much liquid is produced from a kilogram

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of apples and a kilogram of carrots.

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The juicers will also be juicing against the clock,

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to see which is quickest.

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Turn on the juicer.

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Let's start with the amount of juice produced from the apples.

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We're measuring in weight, because it's the most accurate way

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of calculating exactly how much juice has been produced.

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And, as you can see, we have quite a lot of foam on the top,

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which carries no weight.

0:19:160:19:18

Taking first place was the most expensive product, the Sage,

0:19:180:19:21

which produces 722g of juice.

0:19:210:19:24

In second place, the mid-range product, the Philips,

0:19:240:19:27

with a very healthy 681g.

0:19:270:19:29

Some way back in third place was the cheapest juicer,

0:19:290:19:33

the Cookworks, weighing in at just 561g.

0:19:330:19:36

Now, on to the carrots.

0:19:390:19:40

I need to measure another kilogram now.

0:19:400:19:44

In first place was the Sage, with 570g.

0:19:440:19:48

But, when it came to carrots, our cheapest product,

0:19:480:19:50

the Cookworks, came second, producing 554g of juice.

0:19:500:19:55

The mid-range Philips was third, with 522g.

0:19:550:19:59

But add up the totals for both apples and carrots

0:19:590:20:02

and it's clear that, the more you spend, the more juice you get.

0:20:020:20:05

At least, in our test.

0:20:050:20:07

Overall, the Sage came top, our mid-range product, the Philips,

0:20:070:20:10

came second and our cheapest product, the Cookworks, came third.

0:20:100:20:14

But what if you're the type that relies on speed?

0:20:150:20:19

Combining the times for both apples and carrots,

0:20:190:20:22

the Sage once again took first place overall.

0:20:220:20:25

Clocking in at 51 seconds to blitz the apples

0:20:250:20:27

and 36 seconds for the carrots, giving it a total time of...

0:20:270:20:31

Our mid-range juicer, the Philips,

0:20:330:20:35

was actually the quickest to make apple juice.

0:20:350:20:37

However, its slower carrot juice time gave it a total of...

0:20:370:20:40

Just three seconds slower, overall, than the Sage.

0:20:420:20:45

But, in this test, our cheapest product, the Cookworks, struggled.

0:20:470:20:51

I just needed to cut this in half.

0:20:520:20:54

We had to cut up both the apples and carrots and clear the basket

0:20:540:20:57

that catches the shredded pulp, making for a total time of...

0:20:570:21:01

Over four minutes behind the total times of our other two products.

0:21:030:21:07

But will we see a change in results

0:21:090:21:11

when it comes to the clean-up operation?

0:21:110:21:13

Dr Zand's PHD student Emma is here to help.

0:21:130:21:16

This is now convenience testing, which means Emma dismantling it,

0:21:170:21:21

washing it, drying it and assembling it back together

0:21:210:21:24

while I'm timing her.

0:21:240:21:25

After much scrubbing at the sink, the Sage was victorious yet again,

0:21:320:21:36

when combining the times for cleaning away both

0:21:360:21:38

the apple juice and carrot juice, clocking in at...

0:21:380:21:40

Our mid-range product, the Philips,

0:21:430:21:44

was a close second, with a total time of...

0:21:440:21:49

Once more, the Cookworks ended up in third place,

0:21:490:21:52

with a combined time of...

0:21:520:21:56

Argos told us the Cookworks KP400 juicer

0:21:570:21:59

represents excellent value for money, with customers rating it

0:21:590:22:03

an average of four out of five stars in online reviews.

0:22:030:22:07

They say they offer a wide range of juicers, to suit all budgets,

0:22:070:22:10

and have a rigorous quality control process in place.

0:22:100:22:14

Philips, whose product has a two-year warranty, has told us

0:22:140:22:17

they were pleased to see how well their juicer performed

0:22:170:22:20

against a much more expensive model,

0:22:200:22:22

especially in how quickly it makes the juice.

0:22:220:22:24

They add they have many positive customer reviews from their juicers.

0:22:240:22:29

And BRG Appliances LTD told us

0:22:290:22:31

that the Sage By Heston Blumenthal Nutri Juicer Pro

0:22:310:22:34

was designed with long-term durability in mind

0:22:340:22:37

and subject to rigorous life cycle testing.

0:22:370:22:39

It comes with a five-year warranty.

0:22:390:22:42

They add they also have a cheaper product on the market,

0:22:420:22:44

which they would expect to perform very well in our test.

0:22:440:22:47

Overall, our most expensive product, the Sage juicer,

0:22:490:22:52

was the clear winner.

0:22:520:22:53

And although the mid-range Phillips did perform well

0:22:530:22:55

in our technical challenge, it was beaten by our cheapest product,

0:22:550:22:59

the Cookworks, in our one-off taste test.

0:22:590:23:01

So, although this is just a snapshot, perhaps it IS possible

0:23:030:23:06

to get a healthy hit of juice at a bargain price.

0:23:060:23:09

Back to the crackdown on the sale of illegal mobile phone chargers

0:23:130:23:18

in Newcastle.

0:23:180:23:19

Earlier, we saw Trading Standards officers seize two products

0:23:190:23:22

suspected of being unsafe.

0:23:220:23:24

It's now over to the lab to find out exactly how dangerous they are.

0:23:240:23:28

All electrical products have to display the CE mark.

0:23:290:23:33

This indicates that the manufacturer has verified that it complies

0:23:330:23:37

with all relevant safety requirements.

0:23:370:23:39

One of the chargers is already causing Dave concern.

0:23:390:23:43

It should have the CE mark on it and it hasn't, which, straightaway,

0:23:430:23:47

suggests that it hasn't been tested, doesn't meet European standards.

0:23:470:23:51

There's only one way to find out for sure and that to test it.

0:23:510:23:56

First, Dave is going to check whether the charger is safely

0:23:560:23:59

converting the 230 volts that comes out of a UK socket into the five

0:23:590:24:04

needed to charge a mobile phone, otherwise it could be dangerous.

0:24:040:24:08

Got my test meter, probe's in place, switch it on.

0:24:100:24:14

And we get just over five volts, which is perfect,

0:24:150:24:19

which is what we need to charge a mobile phone.

0:24:190:24:23

Both pass this test,

0:24:230:24:24

but they also need to be able to handle excess voltage,

0:24:240:24:28

in case there's a sudden surge in the electrical supply.

0:24:280:24:31

OK, so what we've got now is a small test circuit, which allows us

0:24:310:24:36

to apply a test voltage to the two input pins of the charger.

0:24:360:24:40

Dave's cranking the voltage up to 3,000 volts,

0:24:420:24:45

that's more than ten times the normal supply.

0:24:450:24:48

If insulation inside the charger is working correctly,

0:24:480:24:52

it should remain operational.

0:24:520:24:54

In this case, that failed at 1,700, so that's a failure.

0:24:550:24:59

Next, the second charger.

0:24:590:25:01

That didn't even get near to 3,000.

0:25:010:25:03

It got to 1,500 volts, which means the insulation between the input

0:25:030:25:08

circuit and the output circuit isn't strong enough, so that's a failure.

0:25:080:25:12

The final test is to inspect the wiring on the inside.

0:25:120:25:16

One of the common faults with a lot of chargers, there's cables

0:25:160:25:20

attached at the rear and those cables are soldered. When you use

0:25:200:25:23

solder, should be a secondary means of security.

0:25:230:25:28

Something as simple as some glue should do it,

0:25:280:25:30

just in case the solder becomes loose over time,

0:25:300:25:33

but there's no such thing inside this charger.

0:25:330:25:36

If either one of those cables becomes detached, there's a fair chance

0:25:360:25:41

the 230 volts we have going in could come out of the output connector

0:25:410:25:46

and go straight to your mobile phone

0:25:460:25:48

or possibly, an electric shock to the user.

0:25:480:25:51

Both chargers fail this test, too.

0:25:510:25:55

With Dave's confirmation that these chargers are potentially dangerous,

0:25:550:25:59

it's up to Paul to make sure they are removed from sale immediately.

0:25:590:26:04

Paul heads to the first shop to issue suspension notice number one.

0:26:040:26:08

I'm from Trading Standards. I was in earlier today?

0:26:080:26:12

I bought an iPhone charger from yourselves. The wires that

0:26:120:26:16

are connected to the pins are barely connected and they're not safe.

0:26:160:26:20

So what's going to happen is I'm going to issue something

0:26:200:26:23

called a suspension notice for them,

0:26:230:26:24

which means you're not allowed to sell that particular style

0:26:240:26:27

of charger any more and you're going to tell me where you got them from.

0:26:270:26:31

Okey-dokey?

0:26:310:26:33

-We normally buy stuff from Manchester, right?

-Yeah.

0:26:330:26:36

Have you got any receipts or anything like that?

0:26:360:26:40

The shopkeeper attempts to look for receipts,

0:26:400:26:42

but eventually tells Paul he's unable to find any paperwork

0:26:420:26:45

and he claims he doesn't even know the name of his supplier.

0:26:450:26:50

There's a guy who comes all the time in his car.

0:26:500:26:52

He just write the receipt on the normal paper, so...

0:26:520:26:54

-He will definitely come next week, as well.

-Right, OK.

0:26:540:26:58

Do you know this gentleman's name or number?

0:26:580:27:01

Not really.

0:27:010:27:02

Paul leaves once the shop owner has agreed to try and identify

0:27:020:27:06

his supplier.

0:27:060:27:08

Next, the shop that sold Paul the charger

0:27:080:27:10

that didn't even display the CE mark.

0:27:100:27:13

Again, the shopkeeper seems uncertain of who he's bought

0:27:130:27:16

the chargers from and doesn't have any paperwork.

0:27:160:27:18

He claims they were just samples.

0:27:180:27:21

We don't sell this, we have proper ones, which one we sell it.

0:27:210:27:26

Right, OK, well, the problem is that I was sold this this morning

0:27:260:27:31

and if you're saying that it was just a sample,

0:27:310:27:34

you shouldn't be selling samples.

0:27:340:27:36

They're far from good, they're unsafe,

0:27:360:27:39

so you're not allowed to sell those any more, OK?

0:27:390:27:44

No problem. I know now, so it's OK.

0:27:440:27:46

Paul issues the suspension notice and leaves after the shopkeeper

0:27:460:27:51

agrees he won't buy anything from that supplier again.

0:27:510:27:55

We were told a similar story,

0:27:550:27:57

that he's bought it from a guy who's come in off the street.

0:27:570:27:59

It's a bit of a concern because it's not really verifiable and we're

0:27:590:28:02

trying to find out exactly where these bad chargers have come from.

0:28:020:28:06

It's a different brand, as well,

0:28:060:28:07

so I think we've got a bit of a serious issue here.

0:28:070:28:10

Both shops were eventually able to provide Paul

0:28:100:28:12

with the supplier's details. This information was passed over

0:28:120:28:16

to the relevant Trading Standards authority,

0:28:160:28:18

so they could take further action.

0:28:180:28:20

The shops say they are now purchasing their products

0:28:200:28:22

from a more reputable supplier.

0:28:220:28:24

If you want more information on the safety of products in your home,

0:28:300:28:33

you can go to our website...

0:28:330:28:38

That's all for today. Thanks for watching.

0:28:410:28:43

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