Episode 6 Rip Off Britain

There's a lot we don't know about the food on our plates.

And the shops and the labels don't always tell you the whole story.

I think they encourage you to buy more than you need

and that causes a lot of waste.

Whether you're staying in or going out,

you've told us you can feel ripped off

by the promises made for what you eat

and what you pay for it.

How do you know that it's half price?

So what they've done, they've bumped the price up

and then knocked it down.

From claims that don't stack up to the secrets behind the packaging,

we'll uncover the truth about Britain's food

so you can be sure you are getting what you expect at the right price!

Your food. Your money.

This is Rip-Off Britain.

Hello and a very warm welcome

to our special series of Rip-Off Britain programmes,

where we're investigating our food and drink.

Now, today we'll be looking at some of the unexpected costs and problems

that you could very easily run into

if you're eating while you're out and about.

And by that we don't mean dining out at expensive restaurants.

What we're talking about is picking up a meal or a snack

at somewhere much less flash when you're on the go,

or indeed when you're out for the day,

and need to grab a bite while you're there,

-which is something I think we all do, isn't it?

-Of course.

Well, it's a fact that even the most casual meal out

can cost a lot more than you bargained for -

and that's especially if, as has happened to quite a few of you

visiting one very well-known chain,

you accidentally outstay your welcome!

And don't even think that taking your own food with you

will keep you out of trouble. As we're about to see,

that can create plenty of problems of its own.

Coming up - the tennis fans served with a sandwich ban.

So how many of the UK's biggest venues will also put the kibosh

on taking along a packed lunch?

We saw them taking certain items out of people's bags

and throwing it away, and we realised it was food.

And Happy Meals, but furious customers.

Meet the family who paid a whopping price for their burgers,

after staying too long in the car park.

£100 is a very big fine for parking just 11 minutes over an hour.

You know, whether you're a fan of music or sport,

it's hard to beat the thrill of a day out

watching your favourite stars perform live in front of your eyes.

But it can be an expensive business.

There's the price of the ticket, for a start,

and the expense doesn't stop there.

Food and drink at the venue can be pricey,

which is why many of us might take some snacks of our own.

A drink, or some sweets, or maybe,

depending on what sort of event it is, even a few sandwiches.

But if that rings a bell with you, better watch out.

Because some of Britain's best-known venues take a very dim view

of you bringing anything to nibble on or drink.

For millions of us,

there's nothing like soaking up the atmosphere at a live event.

And while we're there, we might also need a bite to eat.

But even if they sell what you want, the cost of those on-site snacks

can sometimes seem rather steep.

Prices in stadiums are so expensive.

You could pay three or four times the amount of money for a sandwich

that you could buy outside,

so we just find it's much cheaper for us to take it in with us.

It's too expensive to buy food in arenas,

so I'd usually have it before I go there.

We take biscuits as well. And a sandwich because it is, we think...

I know everybody's got to make a profit,

but sometimes we think this is too much.

But while you might want to take your own food and drink with you,

at many venues that simply isn't an option.

They have all sorts of reasons

as to why you can only consume food or drink bought on the premises.

But you may only realise that when it's too late.

Tennis fans Martin Allpress and his wife Julie

thought they were on to a winner when he managed to secure tickets

to one of the biggest tennis events of the year

at the O2 in London last November.

We'd been for the last three years previous to that,

and it's really terrific.

It's a terrific day out. We spend the whole day there,

make a real event of it, take the day off work,

look forward to it for ages.

As in previous years, they booked their tickets online

and Martin got up early to make a special packed lunch,

so they could spend as much time as possible watching the tennis

once they were there.

Martin's the master of the sandwich!

THEY LAUGH

So the sandwich was brown bread, ham, cheese and mayonnaise.

-No, not cheese, cucumber!

-Cucumber!

-I can't eat cheese.

-No.

It's full of cholesterol.

It was cucumber. The good stuff - part of my five-a-day.

With their healthy sandwiches all neatly packed,

Martin and Julie set off to London.

The tennis was being hosted at the O2,

one of the country's biggest entertainment venues,

with seats for 20,000 spectators.

Martin and Julie had been several times before.

But this time, when they joined the queue to enter the arena,

they noticed that the security guards seemed rather stricter than usual,

and that they were taking a particular interest in people's food.

We saw them throwing away... Taking certain items out of people's bags

and throwing it away, and we realised it was food.

And I looked at you and I went, sort of, "Uh-oh.

"We've got sandwiches in our bag. Are we going to lose ours as well?"

And that was exactly what happened.

As the couple reached the front of the queue,

they were forced to watch as their sandwiches and fresh fruit

were unceremoniously dumped into a bin.

It's never been an issue.

We've always been able to take our own bits and bobs in

to nibble on during the match.

And this time, we were quite astounded, really,

-that we weren't allowed to take it in.

-I felt a bit cheated.

-You love your sandwiches, don't you?

-Yeah, I do. I love my sandwiches.

On both the ticket

and an e-mail Martin received 24 hours before the event,

it does make clear in the small print that no food or drink

except a half-litre bottle of water is allowed into the arena.

But as the couple had taken their own food into the 02

for the last four years without any problem,

they didn't think that a couple of sandwiches and some fruit

would be an issue this time either.

And when Julie asked for an explanation,

she thought the answer she got was, shall we say,

a little hard to swallow.

The reason they gave to us

-was because it was a high security, wasn't it?

-Oh, right.

-Yeah.

A security risk for a ham sandwich!

You could drop it on the floor and somebody could fall on it.

You could throw it in front of the tennis players

and they could have a really bad accident,

slip on a piece of ham(!)

The O2 has more than 30 on-site restaurants

and Martin and Julie suspect the venue might ban food from outside

so you've no choice but to spend onsite.

I don't think it was for security at all.

I think it was purely for profits.

-Definitely.

-To get people to buy the concession food inside.

But Martin and Julie did enjoy one small victory.

Determined to have something to chew on while he enjoyed the tennis,

Martin managed to sneak in some sweets

at the bottom of his backpack.

They tasted wonderful!

Opened them secretly in case somebody should spot them.

Felt like two naughty children smuggling sweets in school.

We've heard from a number of other tennis fans at the same event,

who were caught out by the ban on bringing in food,

including Hilary McGowan, who spoke to us over the internet.

What really upset me was that they were wasting a lot of food and drink

that people had bought, and just throwing them into dustbins.

And that was the real rip-off for everybody.

But I'd rather spend my money on buying a ticket to see the tennis

than subsidising the people who sell the food inside the 02.

The O2 told us its policy of no food or beverages in the arena

is in line with most venues across the UK,

and while they've been quite relaxed about the enforcement of this rule,

it is clearly stated on the back of every ticket

in the terms and conditions.

It said increased security concerns at the tennis -

especially in relation to liquids -

meant the policy needed to be enforced,

as the fairest, clearest and most effective way

to ensure everyone was safe.

The venue emphasised that all ticket holders were contacted about this

in advance, and exceptions were made for those with medical conditions.

But it went on to say that the cost of all the additional security

far outweighed any additional revenue benefits

from sales of food and drink.

And - some good news - the confiscated food wasn't thrown away,

but processed on site and converted into energy and recyclable products.

The venue even has its own wormery

which last year processed 8.4 tonnes of food waste.

So next time you go to a gig or an all-day event

like the one Martin and Julie went to,

could you too end up having your snacks confiscated?

To find out, we rang around more than 50 of the biggest venues

across the country to ask them about their policy on food.

Is it possible that we're allowed to bring our own food with us?

You know, snacks and things?

'Of the 34 venues where we got to speak to someone,'

just five said yes, we could bring any food we liked into the arena.

A further seven said cold food was OK but not hot,

and three more said you could take your own food into the public areas,

but not the main auditorium.

But at more than a third of all the places we called,

13 of them, including almost all the big-name regional venues,

it was an outright no. You can't take in any food at all.

And in some cases they cheerfully admitted

it was because they sell their own food on site.

There were six venues where we didn't get a straight answer

and were either told it was entirely at the discretion of the staff

on the door, or they suggested we should just sneak it in,

which we have to assume isn't their official policy.

The National Arenas Association,

which represents most of the big arenas,

told us that not allowing customers to consume their own refreshments

is consistent with other catering retail facilities

such as bars, restaurants and cafes.

But if you're thinking you might want to take food along to a big event,

check the small print carefully!

Or call ahead to be sure that your food doesn't end up wasted,

like Martin and Julie's was.

They'd charged us 200 quid for the tickets

and then they want to get more money out of us by selling us food.

Next year, we're going to smuggle our sandwiches in.

When it comes to fast food, the clue is in the title.

It's not intended to be slow, a meal lingered over for hours on end,

just simple, tasty and - most importantly - speedy sustenance.

Of course, the "fast" in fast food

initially meant how quickly it's prepared.

But how fast do you have to be when you're eating it?

Now, it might not take long if you're on your own,

but if you add in a few kids, perhaps a queue at the checkout,

maybe a last-minute dessert,

and suddenly your meal may not be quite as fast as intended.

And as the family in our next film discovered,

that could land you with a very unexpected penalty

and leave a sour taste in the mouth.

Fast food is synonymous with speed.

No frills, just simple food, quickly served,

as market leader McDonald's likes to show in ads like this.

Back in 1986, McDonald's was the first chain

to open a drive-thru in Britain.

Food so fast you didn't even need to leave your car to collect it.

But when Noel and Carol Endersby from Winnersh

took their grandchildren to McDonald's for a meal,

they did get out of the car to eat it,

which is where their problems began.

They'd landed at Gatwick after a holiday in Portugal,

but, wanting to give the kids a final treat on the drive home,

they'd headed for a nearby McDonald's.

Five kids, two adults and a lot of luggage

were spread across two cars

and it was Noel who got to the restaurant first.

We separated and agreed to meet in McDonald's

because the kids were hungry, tired, it's been a long journey...

And Noel got to McDonald's long before I did, didn't you?

About 20 minutes, I think, before you got there.

So eventually we arrived at McDonald's. We all went in together.

And, once inside, they wasted no time starting the complex operation

of feeding all their grandchildren.

As you would imagine, you're not in and out of there in ten minutes

when you've got five children all fussing about what they want to eat.

All in all, it took us a good hour to have a meal.

That's not unusual, as far as I'm concerned.

So after their food, drink and a few trips to the loo

and a squabble or two,

the family finally finished their lunch and left the restaurant.

And they thought little more about it.

Until around a fortnight later, when a letter arrived,

telling Noel and Carol that their McDonald's family lunch

had cost them a lot more than they'd realised.

When the letter arrived, you were steaming, weren't you?

Saying that this is really ridiculous. Why are they charging us?

Unbeknown to Noel and Carol,

McDonald's impose a one-hour parking limit at some of their restaurants.

Noel's car had been parked for 11 minutes longer than that.

And as a result, he was now being told

he had to stump up a £100 penalty charge.

Well, I said to you, didn't I,

"Don't worry about it. We're customers, clearly."

We thought it'd be fine. We'd just write to them,

explain the circumstances and it'll be fine.

And that's what you did, wasn't it?

This McDonald's car park is operated by a private parking company

called MET, who said they would reduce the charge to £50

if paid within the first two weeks.

So Noel paid up, while at the same time appealing to McDonald's

to waive the charge altogether.

After all,

they'd bought dinner for all five grandchildren at the restaurant.

But McDonald's' response was a firm no.

I was quite dismayed, actually, you know.

I couldn't believe that McDonald's, a company of that repute,

would just...just treat their customers in such a terrible way.

£100 is a very big fine for parking just 11 minutes over an hour.

If you had a two-hour lunch slot, then maybe that would be different,

but £100 is a very steep charge.

Noel and Carol say no mealtime with their five grandchildren is fast.

And with free Wi-Fi, a play area, balloons and toys for the kids,

McDonald's don't always make it easy to eat and run.

They give the children toys, packs and things like that,

so we didn't feel that we should have been under a time limit.

Right foot - blue.

Now, Noel could have appealed to POPLA,

whose initials stand for Parking on Private Land Appeals.

That's exactly what Charlie Webley did

when he, too, received a penalty charge

after parking for more than an hour at the same McDonald's near Gatwick.

In August 2013, diabetic Charlie had made a pit-stop at McDonald's

after his blood-sugar levels had fallen dramatically while driving.

He stayed there until they returned to normal but, in doing so,

was in the car park for 16 minutes longer than allowed,

which earned him - just like Noel - a £100 parking charge.

When Charlie's complaints to the company that operates the car park

got him nowhere, he asked POPLA to consider his case.

And they told the company to drop the charge.

And we've heard from other Rip-Off Britain viewers

who've outstayed their welcome

at McDonald's car parks across the country.

Len Thompson from Somerset stopped at McDonald's in Banbury

for some food and a quick snooze before getting back on the road.

But he was 32 minutes late leaving the car park.

He, too, was asked to pay that £100 charge,

although the parking company did drop it

when he wrote and explained the situation.

When we contacted McDonald's,

the company told us that parking restrictions have proved necessary

at almost one in six of their restaurants,

after clear evidence that the car parks were being misused,

for example by minicab drivers using them as waiting bays,

or people leaving their vehicles for hours, or even days,

while they use nearby shopping centres or airports.

In most cases, the limit is 90 minutes,

but near airports, as in this case, it's an hour.

McDonald's says it doesn't profit from the charges and works with...

It suggests anyone who thinks they might need to stay longer

than the time allowed should contact the manager in advance.

The parking company McDonald's use - Met Parking -

told us that, where genuine mitigating circumstances apply,

they do cancel notices, on a case-by-case basis.

And they insisted that in all the car parks they operate,

any restrictions - including time limits -

are communicated clearly on signage.

Of course, McDonald's isn't the only fast-food chain

that can have a time limit in its car parks.

But Noel and Carol won't be rushing back,

at least not with the five grandchildren in tow.

Will we be going back to McDonald's? Definitely not.

Yeah, if the time limit's there, we won't stop, we'll go somewhere else.

Still to come on Rip-Off Britain.

The takeaway pizza toppings that aren't what it says on the menu.

Could you tell the difference?

I don't think they should lie to you on the menu.

You know, we can accept that we're getting the fake ingredients,

but I think they should tell you, straight up, what you're getting.

No matter how careful we are about what we eat,

we all have our guilty pleasures. I've got quite a few.

A lot of Brits would say that you can't beat the occasional takeaway,

not least because it gets you out of all the washing-up,

and we like a bit of that!

But the question is, are we taking away exactly what we think we are?

Well, Ray Blaker from Coleraine in Northern Ireland thinks not.

He sent us an e-mail saying he's fed up

with food manufacturers using what he calls false ingredients.

In other words, they're not what they're supposed to be,

or what they might be described as on the packet or on the menu.

Well, we've had a closer look at what that means

for one of the country's favourite takeaway dishes,

and, actually, it seems what Raymond's talking about

is a lot more common than you might think.

Let's face it, we Brits love our takeaways.

In fact, between us, we enjoy around 220 million of them every year.

And a classic choice remains pizza,

which, for this group of Italian language students from Manchester,

is pretty much the only takeaway they'd even consider ordering.

True to their studies, this lot enjoy everything about Italy -

the culture, the language and, of course, the food.

The food, I think, is the best in Europe.

I can eat it three times a day

when I go to Italy, so breakfast, lunch and dinner.

My favourite Italian food, it's maybe pizza.

It's not a surprise because it's the best!

The basic ingredients of pretty much every pizza are the same -

a dough base covered with tomato sauce, usually some cheese,

then the whole thing finished off

with any number of different toppings.

I love Italian food because I love the cheesiness...

I love cheese and you eat it with your hands

and it's also very social.

I like Italian food because it's very fresh.

But not everything on top of your takeaway pizza

is necessarily what the menu would have you believe.

And not all the ingredients are as fresh as you might want to think.

Indeed in some cases, they officially can be described as fake.

So we've invited this lot to lunch

to test out some of those ingredients.

They'll be sampling two different types of pizza.

One is made with lovely, fresh genuine ingredients.

The other is made with the cheaper stuff

that's increasingly being used instead.

Will they be able to tell which is which?

And while our samples are being put together in the kitchen,

it's clear that these fake ingredients

are a real problem for the authorities.

Bharathi Reddy is from a public analysis lab in Preston

that tests products on behalf of the local Trading Standards.

Last year, she conducted a survey of takeaway pizzas across the region

to see if the description on the menu matched the reality.

We wanted to make sure

the ingredients were exactly as advertised on the menu.

We compared each and every pizza to how it had been described.

We found a significant number of pizzas mis-advertised.

All were declared as containing cheese and in fact

19 of the 20 contained a product that is known as cheese analogue.

Cheese analogue is also known as fake cheese

because it's not actually cheese at all,

just a cheaper, processed alternative.

And yet it was used in almost all the takeaway pizzas Bharathi tested

without any hint of that on the menu.

Those pizzas should have been labelled with a clear indication

they contained cheese analogue.

Whether it's called a cheese substitute or a cheese alternative,

it should have been clear to the consumer.

But as well as finding cheese that wasn't on the menu,

Bharathi also found that many of the meats on takeaway pizzas

weren't what they claimed to be either.

What we were actually finding was that every ham and cheese pizza

at a halal outlet was in fact turkey.

Pepperoni pizza actually contained pork, beef and chicken.

There might be good reasons why takeaways don't want to use ham -

for religious reasons, perhaps.

But by law, how it's described on the label or menu has to be honest.

The rules around the labelling of food, which have recently changed,

are really quite specific,

and the requirements are that the description should be accurate.

Pizzas aren't the only takeaway food

that can be made of things that aren't what you think.

Trading Standards has also found lamb curries made of chicken or beef

and cod suppers that are actually haddock, whiting,

or the Thai river fish pangasius.

But if you've bought

one of the 110 million takeaway pizzas sold each year,

then you may well have unwittingly been eating cheese analogue

instead of what you might have assumed was mozzarella,

or possibly what's known as meat emulsion instead of ham.

Of course that's not always the case,

and indeed there are pizza delivery companies

that make a point of advertising they only use 100% real cheese,

such as market leaders Papa John's and Domino's.

But fake cheese can be common elsewhere.

So will our group of volunteers be able to tell if they're eating it?

Back at our restaurant,

the chef is busy preparing the two pizzas that will test that out.

One of them is made with only genuine ingredients,

the kind this restaurant would normally use.

And the other is being prepared using the fake ingredients

that aren't all they seem.

I don't think my mum would be very happy with that.

As countless other takeaways and restaurants do,

we bought the ingredients for our fake pizza

from a regular wholesaler.

We'll tell the diners the meat is ham and salami,

but, in fact, it's made from turkey and beef.

And half the cheese is cheese analogue.

We've asked home economist Gillian Marczack to show us how it's made.

To make cheese analogue, we only need three very simple ingredients -

hard white vegetable fat, skimmed milk and cold tap water.

While real cheese takes a long time to mature and develop its flavour,

cheese substitutes can be manufactured quickly

and, crucially, cheaply.

Going to start off by melting my white vegetable fat in the pan.

So that's nicely melted, so I'm going to remove it from the heat

and add in the skimmed milk powder...

and water.

The mixture is put into a food processor to blend it all together,

and then is chilled to set.

Once it's solid, it can be grated up and added to your phoney pizza.

It's smooth, it's creamy.

Not very much taste, but it does have a texture similar to mozzarella.

So will the diners at our Italian FAKEAWAY be able

to tell the difference between the first pizza with real toppings

and the second, the fake one?

I prefer the second pizza.

I prefer the second pizza.

The first one had a plastic taste to it.

I preferred the first pizza. It had more flavour to it

and I thought it looked a little more fresh.

The first one tasted fake.

Like fake cheese.

The second one, I thought it was fresh ingredients.

I'm Italian and the second pizza is a real Italian pizza.

Uh-oh. Interestingly, nearly all of our Italian linguists -

five out of six - actually preferred number two, the fake pizza.

No way!

-What, this one is fake...?!

-I was totally wrong!

Mamma mia!

Now, fake cheese or meat isn't less safe than the real thing

and, it would appear, may even taste better, at least to some people.

But for our pizza lovers,

it is important that they're getting what they think they are.

If you pay for a product, you expect to have that product served to you.

I don't think they should lie to you on the menu.

You know, we can accept that we're getting the fake ingredients,

but I think they should tell you, straight up, what you're getting.

Here at Rip-Off Britain, we're always ready

to investigate more of your stories on any subject.

You can write to us at...

Or send us an e-mail to...

The Rip-Off team is ready and waiting to investigate your stories.

That's just about it from us.

Though I must say, girls,

I was really quite shocked by some of the stories we heard today.

Because you often write to us to say you think

food prices are higher than you'd like when you're out for the day,

but I don't recall hearing about venues confiscating food

and just chucking it away, as happened at that tennis tournament.

And I was also very surprised about those parking charges at McDonald's.

Now, I know they've got to police the car park, obviously,

but I think you can understand why families who've had a meal

might feel cheesed off if, after a burger, they end up with a ticket.

If you've had an unwelcome surprise when you were eating on the hoof,

please do tell us about it.

And it could be your story we'll be looking at on a future programme.

But in the meantime, thanks for joining us today.

And wherever you're having your next meal, we hope it's a good one.

-Goodbye.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.