Episode 2 Food Detectives

Every day, we face a huge number of choices about food.

Everything from what we buy...

..to whether it's good for us...

..and how to cook it.

Beautiful.

In this series,

we're going to use our expertise to help you make the best food choices.

'We want to improve your cooking...'

-Well done, girl.

-It looks delicious.

'..your health...'

So even if I've washed my hands, my forearms are still contaminated.

'..and your bank balance.'

So what are you getting when you spend extra money?

I'm scientist Alice Roberts.

I'll be looking at the latest

research into nutrition to find out what's good for us and what's not.

I'm journalist Sean Fletcher.

I'll investigate which everyday products are value for money

and which are a rip-off.

And I'm chef Tom Kerridge.

And I'll be sharing my tricks of the trade that

I guarantee will fire up your taste buds.

Wow. That looks great.

We're going to dish up the plain facts

so we can all enjoy our food more.

-Cheers.

-Cheers.

-Cheers.

Coming up - lots of us are cutting gluten from our diet.

But is it really that bad for us? Or is this just another fad?

-We set up an experiment to find out.

-Results, everyone.

Tom shares his trade secrets so we can all improve our cooking.

We're talking garnishes

that can enhance your dish with

the perfect balance of texture and flavour.

And Sean finds out just how much you can save on your food

shop by using the latest cashback apps.

I've been doing this now for about three years

and I must save at least £1,500 a year.

First up...

One of the fastest-growing trends in our supermarkets is

"free from" foods, foods free from dairy, free from wheat,

and in particular, free from gluten.

A recent survey found that 13% of the UK population is actively

avoiding gluten. That's the highest rate in Europe.

So is gluten really that bad for us?

Should we all be going gluten-free?

Gluten-free used to be a niche category for those with

a medical condition. Not any more.

The supermarkets have shelves dedicated to it,

and sales have rocketed.

Last year, in the UK, we spend £210 million on gluten-free products.

The claim is that gluten, which is found in bread, pasta, cakes,

can cause abdominal bloating, fatigue, and headaches,

and I think there's a lot of us wondering

if it might just be healthier to go completely gluten-free?

So what actually is gluten?

I've come to a bakery to find out.

For Gerry Pert, it's

a vital substance in just about everything he makes.

You need to use a little drop of water.

We're mixing powdered gluten and water.

So we're making dough, effectively?

Yes, we're taking very, very glutinous dough.

Gluten is a mixture of proteins found in some cereals.

When flour is mixed with water,

the gluten swells to form a network of fine protein strands.

This makes the dough chewy and stretchy

and helps to trap bubbles of carbon dioxide made by yeast.

So is gluten a useful thing to use?

It's critical.

It binds the bread together.

So when you're slicing, it's not crumbly.

I don't think Tom Kerridge is going to want me

as a sous-chef in his kitchen any time soon.

Well, he doesn't know what he's missing.

Ooh...

Ooh, that's strange.

-Try stretching it.

-It is quite elastic.

How far can I pull it before it breaks? Oh, quite a long way.

And it's gone.

-Let's pump some air into it.

-OK.

-See what happens.

Oh!

That's huge!

Wow!

The ability of it to trap air...

You can see how essential that

is to the baking industry.

Nothing holds together quite like gluten, I'm afraid.

I think most people know that there's gluten in things like bread

and cakes, but it's also hidden away in foods like chocolate

and even canned soup,

so it's not that easy to eliminate gluten from your diet.

Some people think that they feel better if they try to avoid gluten.

But for others, this isn't so much a lifestyle choice.

It's a medical necessity.

One in 100 people in the UK have a condition called coeliac disease.

If they eat gluten, their intestines become inflamed

and they have difficulty absorbing nutrients from their food.

Iain Barbour was diagnosed with coeliac disease 25 years ago.

So what were the symptoms?

Fatigue, digestive problems, bloating, diarrhoea,

constipation, weight gain and weight loss, but dramatically,

and just general low mood as well, which is

another classic sign of coeliac disease, or potential classic sign.

Presumably, that diagnosis meant that you had to totally

-redesign your diet.

-I changed my diet completely,

absolutely completely, and so

instead of having any processed food,

I was having home-cooked, fresh food, lean protein, nuts

and seeds, and lots of vegetables, so almost a low-carb diet.

And it worked?

Most of my symptoms disappeared within about three or four weeks.

Coeliac disease only affects 1% of the population,

but would the rest of us benefit from cutting gluten from our diets?

Actually, there's a real shortage of scientific evidence as to

whether it's bad for us or not.

So to get some answers about the benefits of going gluten-free,

we're carrying out an experiment of our own.

We've enlisted 30 volunteers who'd like to try a gluten-free diet.

So do you think you might have any problem with gluten at all?

I've always wondered if I've got an intolerance to gluten,

so it's the perfect opportunity to find out, really.

What kind of positive effects might you be looking at?

To see if I'm less fatigued.

I always seem to be asleep or just lounging around.

-Do you think it might be a bit of a fad?

-It's difficult.

I think people are jumping a little bit on the bandwagon.

Hello, everyone.

Professor David Sanders is one of the UK's leading experts in gluten,

and a surgeon at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield.

He's running the experiment.

Thank you so much for agreeing to take part.

What we are trying to work out is just a gluten-free diet make

you feel better?

We've asked our volunteers to cut gluten from their diets

by explaining which foods to avoid.

But there's one big twist to this experiment,

which will help us test the effect gluten has on our health.

Over the next two weeks,

our volunteers will be adding the contents of these sachets to

their food, either A or B depending on which group they are in.

One contained a powder which is entirely gluten-free.

The other one contains a powder which is high in gluten.

And even I don't know which is which.

So half the group will be adding gluten to their diet,

and the other half will be gluten-free.

Those with the sachets containing the gluten will be consuming

the equivalent of three slices of bread a day.

-And it's two packs per person, isn't it, David?

-Two packs per person.

We'll see you back in two weeks' time.

And we'll be back for the results later in the programme.

Cooking for friends and family can be such a pleasure,

but sometimes even the simplest dishes don't turn out right.

Tom is on a mission to share his expertise with us,

so we can all improve our cooking skills.

Thank you.

I put a shout out on social media for your kitchen fails.

You've been brave enough to share those dishes that always

seem to go wrong.

From Yorkshire puddings that look like pancakes,

to rice that turns to mush.

Cooking can be a tricky business,

so there's no shame in a kitchen fail.

I've had my fair share of disasters.

But with a few tips and hints,

we can avoid some of those kitchen catastrophes.

MUSIC PLAYS: How D'Ya Like Your Eggs In The Morning by Dean Martin and Helen O'Connell

This time, I'm on a mission to help prison officer Kevin Jones

with his kitchen fail,

poached eggs.

Who said I was a messy cook?

He's cooking these eggs at a massive high heat.

That's never going to work. Doesn't matter how fresh those eggs are.

Those eggs have got no chance.

Today, I'm in the seaside town of Weymouth in Dorset to give

Kevin a helping hand.

-Hi, mate.

-Kevin. How are you doing? Nice to see you too.

The poached egg challenge. Here we go.

Kevin is going to run me through how he normally makes his poached eggs,

so I can see where he's going wrong.

So I wait for that to get boiling.

Come on, water.

Cheeky Tom's top tip here is the watched pot never boils.

Look the other way.

-Don't look. See. It's still not boiling.

-All right.

Four minutes is normally what I'd do it for.

On this temperature, so a nice gentle simmer, then.

That's not gentle.

That's, like, volcanic.

This vigorous boiling of the water is pulling apart the egg

whites from the yolk.

Definitely not what you want in a poached egg.

We've got sort of a yolk in there and a bit of white.

Well, there's definitely white and a yolk.

They're just in two separate parts of the pan!

There we go.

There's still a bit more in there if you want it.

I think it might be runny.

It's definitely still runny, yes.

There is still a little bit of liquidy yolk.

We can solve this, chief. No problem.

So you are going to poach two eggs,

-and you're going to poach them perfectly.

-OK.

First thing is the egg. Eggs must be fresh.

If it's an old egg, it means that when you drop it into your water,

straightaway, where it's thin, it won't hold together,

so you need fresh eggs.

OK.

Although eggshells looks solid,

they're covered in over 10,000 tiny pores.

As the egg ages, air enters through the porous shell,

forming an air pocket.

The best way of finding out if they're fresh is by dropping them

-into a glass of water.

-OK.

And if it sinks, that means it's nice and fresh.

-If it floats to the top, we're in trouble.

-Yeah.

Now for my little-known tip for great poached eggs.

We're going to ever so quickly simmer the egg

while it's still in its shell.

This will help the white and yolk hold together.

Going to drop it into the pan and then with

the spoon you're going to roll it around the water and count to 10.

It's beginning to cook just slightly the inside of the egg

and it's helping to begin to set it.

-OK.

-OK. We're going to put a splash

of white wine vinegar in it.

So with that, would you not be able to taste the vinegar in the egg

when you poach it?

It really does depend how much you put in.

The vinegar encourages the proteins of the egg to set more quickly

and form a neat and compact shape.

Just give it a gentle stir.

And then crack one of your eggs in.

Nice and gently, gently, gently.

And because the water is beginning to swirl round,

it helps to combine and bring all of those egg whites together

round the outside of the York.

OK.

Once the eggs have been added, a low heat is all you need to

maintain a good poaching temperature.

We are not boiling rapidly for four minutes like, "Cooking an egg!"

We're cooking an egg.

To achieve a soft poached egg,

gently simmer for around three minutes.

Now, if you lift this one and touch that with your finger,

it's beginning to set, look.

So there's yours. All right,

I'll give you, it has been sat on the side a little bit,

but it does look very different.

For a great lunch dish, wilt some spinach in melted butter

and add some smoked salmon.

Get your knife and fork, chief. Let's get in there.

Looking forward to this.

That lovely, runny yolk will work perfectly as a sauce.

It's a bit good, that.

-Absolutely beautiful.

-Good.

Beautifully cooked yolks and you did those, my friend.

-That'll be me every time now.

-Brilliant. Brilliant.

If, like Kevin, you've got a kitchen fail,

send me a video on social media.

And I'll pick a few and tell you where you're going wrong.

Searing a piece of meat seals in the juices.

The answer is false.

The crust that forms around the surface of the meat is not

waterproof.

The sizzling in the pan is the sound of moisture continually

escaping and vaporising.

Put that away in the fridge.

'We're all keen to save money on our food shop.

'I know I am, with two growing teenagers and a dog eating me

'out of house and home.'

Give me your paw. Give me the other one. Good girl.

'But you don't have to wait for the stores to cut their prices.

'One of the newest ways of cutting costs is online cashback offers.'

These days, if you want to save on your supermarket shop,

there's a whole raft of websites that offer big discounts.

But how much can you actually save?

To find out, one of Britain's best bargain hunters is going to

let us in on some of her secrets.

Sam Shelford works as a personal

assistant in the healthcare industry.

She lives in Essex with her boyfriend Barnaby

and their daughter, Ellie.

I'm just going to take you round the kitchen

and just show you some items that are in the cupboards.

The average household spends around £60 a week on groceries,

but Sam's bill is less than half that.

She spends between £25 and £30 for a similar shop.

She makes her biggest savings using websites

and apps that offer cashback on products you buy in the supermarket.

Hi, there.

My name's Sam and basically it all started when my daughter was born.

-Hello.

-Say it properly.

-No.

As you can tell, I get interrupted quite a lot.

Basically, we realised how expensive food was

and how obviously we knew there must be a way somehow, somewhere,

of making it cheaper for us to survive on what we could.

The cashback apps she uses the most are Shopitize, TopCashback

and Checkout Smart.

You download the app, which is completely free,

you go to the shop, buy the relevant items, come home

and then you find the item that you want to claim the cashback on.

Then you literally just need to take a photo of the receipt

and as soon as they've approved it,

the money will go into your account and you will be able to

transfer that by BACS within seven working days.

The way to get the cashback is similar for most of the apps.

For some, you need to reach a minimum

balance before you can withdraw your cash.

Shopitize, it's five pounds. And for Checkout Smart, it's £20.

I've been doing this now for about three years

and I must save at least £1,500 a year.

# This is for all you shoppers out there... #

We asked Sam to spend an hour after work collecting cashback deals.

She's put together a midweek shopping list for the big

four supermarkets.

Time to see how much money she can save.

I'm hoping there's a few items on

there that we're going to get for free.

# The best things in life are free

# But you can keep them for the birds and bees

-# Give me money

-That's what I want

-# That's what I want

-That's what I want... #

Cider.

With Sam's shopping done,

it's time to check out her groceries

to find out how much she's saved

and if all the effort was worth it.

First up, Sainsbury's.

This whole shop should have come to £18, but after using the three

cashback apps it's only actually come to a total of £8.35.

A saving of over nine pounds.

Next, Asda.

This shop should have cost me £8.94,

but after using the apps, again, it only comes to £4.94.

This time, Sam saved four pounds.

How about Morrison's?

This total shop should have come to £11.51.

It's only actually come to a grand total of £6.07.

That's a saving of over a fiver.

And a free bottle of cider.

And finally, Tesco.

This total of this shop should have come to £25.24.

The actual total was only £11.29, so quite a huge saving there.

That's a massive saving of nearly £14.

It does seem like a tedious task to be have to go through every

single shop that you do, but the fact that it saves you

so much money, it just seems common sense to do it, really.

The total cost of this shop should have been £63.69.

But by using the apps, Sam will get it for just £30.65.

She's cut her bill in half.

If you've got a phone and a camera and you can take a picture,

then there's no reason you can't do this.

-Say bye.

-Bye.

# The best things in life are free

# But you can give them to the birds and the bees... #

So what's in it for the food manufacturers making these offers?

Now, these companies have been using paper coupons for years

without any real value or data.

What the apps do is give them the full picture of who their consumer

actually is, and the hope is that you will stay loyal to the brand.

Earlier in the programme, we started an experiment to find out

if going gluten free could really make people feel better.

We split these volunteers into groups A and B.

Both groups were put on a gluten-free diet,

but then we asked them to add a sachet of powder to their meals.

So one group was adding gluten powder, while the other was

staying gluten-free, but crucially, they don't know which is which.

Professor David Sanders has been busy analysing the data.

Before we reveal to you any of the results, I'd like to know

if you thought that you were in the

group that had gluten in the sachets.

So most of group B, most of group A as well.

How did you get on?

I didn't like eating the powder.

When I'd eaten it, I felt really full,

and my stomach's been like a ball for two weeks.

And what about this group? How did you feel?

I felt more discomfort, more tired.

So do you think you were in the

gluten group or the non gluten group?

I think almost certainly I was in the gluten group.

In the second week, I kind of felt hungover

and found my energy levels were kind of peaking and troughing

and mainly troughing.

Time to find out who was on the genuine gluten-free diet

and who has been adding gluten to their meals.

Results, everyone.

Group A is gluten...

..and group B is gluten-free.

So I think a lot of you are quite shocked. Especially this group.

What was it that we were feeling

and why did we feel the effects that we all did?

It very much fulfils what we would call a placebo effect.

In other words,

believing that you're having something that isn't good for you

and that's going to make you feel ill, and then responding to that.

I think some of you in group A didn't experience any

difference at all.

No, none at all. It was literally just like having a normal diet.

David, you are looking at very specific symptoms as well,

so I'm intrigued to know

if it was actually any difference between the two groups?

We essentially looked at gut symptoms, asking about things

like reflux and bloating and how often you open your bowels.

We also looked at tiredness

and what we found was that between groups A and B, there was absolutely

no difference in the scores, either at the beginning or at the end.

And I think what it tells us is that if you are not someone who has

noticed a problem when you're eating gluten, then there is no problem.

You can eat what you would like.

Based on the findings of our experiment, it didn't seem

that cutting out gluten made much difference to how people felt.

In fact, gluten-free products often contained higher fat

and sugar levels to compensate for the lack of gluten.

So if you don't have a problem, save your money.

But if you think you have symptoms,

your first visit shouldn't be to the supermarket aisles, but to your GP.

Finally, if you're looking to improve your cooking skills,

I have some easy to follow top tips that are achievable for everyone.

In a professional kitchen, getting food consistently tasting

great relies on tips and techniques that never fail.

Now, I'd like to share with you some of these trade secrets

that are easy to do, but incredibly effective.

If you've ever wondered why a simple dish like soup tastes

so much better in a restaurant than at home, I have the answer.

We're talking garnishes.

Now, you may think that they're a bit pretentious and pointless,

but used correctly, they can enhance your dish with a perfect

balance of texture and flavour.

OK. We have here two perfectly great classic soups.

A tomato soup and a pea soup.

Now, the tomato soup is already naturally high in acidity

and sugar from the tomatoes, so to balance that, basil has

a wonderful garden freshness, a lovely herbiness that goes with it.

Despite what you might think,

chefs don't just garnish their food for show.

Balancing flavours like sweet and sour or sharp

and fresh is the secret to so many professional dishes.

I'm just going to drop this basil into this jug blender.

You could use a food processor if you like,

and then on top of that, I'm going to pour some olive oil.

Then just pour the blended oil

and basil into a bowl with a sieve in it and some muslin cloth.

And then what you're going to do is you're going to leave the oil

to gently drip through that muslin cloth

and it gives it a wonderful clean finish.

Colour and contrast is key to any garnish.

This vibrancy not only creates a wow factor. It adds taste.

A good dollop of pesto right in the middle.

A nice drizzle of the basil oil all over the soup.

Don't be shy with it. It's got plenty of flavour.

Sprinkle with some sourdough croutons for crunch,

and then finally, basil leaves.

There you have a very simple tomato soup that's been enhanced.

Onto the next dish, pea soup.

Peas are really high in sweetness.

To cut through that sweetness, start off with a mint oil,

made in just the same way as the basil oil.

Then we add some natural acidity with this lemon.

I'm just going to grate the zest. That'll lift it.

That'll help make it come alive.

Finish off the pea soup with a tangy creme fraiche,

some pea shoots for crunch, and finally, pancetta,

which chefs used to add a savoury taste to dishes.

I have here some smoked pancetta that's been fried,

so we've got these crispy little nuggets of bacon and that saltiness

is also a great counterbalance to the sweetness of the soup.

There you go, my friends.

Two very simple bowls of soup that have been brought to life

using the secrets of garnish.

Very easy to do. You can do it at home.

You can find these trade secrets and more on the website.

Next time -

Are diet drinks as good for our waistlines as we think?

We carry out an experiment to find out.

ALL: Cheers.

Let's see what this is like.

Sean pulls apart the ingredients in tins of baked beans to

discover what we're really paying for.

It doesn't look like very nice stuff. Should we worry about this?

Well, yes and no.

And Tom gets down and dirty as he takes on another kitchen fail.

Keep scrubbing there, Tom.

Yes, Chef. That's it.