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.
Wow!
We want to improve your cooking...
- Well done, girl. - Looks delicious. - High five that.
.. 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.
Coming up...
We put claims that chillies could help us lose weight to the test.
We just want to put about four level teaspoons in.
That's going to be extremely hot.
Tom shares his trade secrets for a British classic.
And the trick to making good gravy -- banana shallots.
I've kept the skin on.
And Sean finds out how to make sense of food labels.
I think you'd need a PhD in maths to do all the calculations.
First up...
We all know what we've got to do to lose weight.
Eat less, exercise more.
But it can be hard work,
which is why the internet is full of weird diets and miracle pills.
Most of these quick-fix ways to lose weight are too good to be true.
But recently one story stood out from the crowd.
Scientists had apparently discovered a substance so powerful
that it could boost the body's ability to burn fat
even without exercise.
The secret is hidden away inside here.
The claim is that chillies could help us to burn a few more calories.
And I want to put that to the test.
Dr Thomas Barber from the University Of Warwick
is in charge of the experiment.
Our volunteer, Isabelle, is going to be locked in this sealed chamber
for the next 9 hours.
It's a bit like a submarine, from the outside.
Isabelle will be fed one meal with chilli and one without.
The first is the meal with chilli.
So, we just want to put four level teaspoons in.
Yep. Right, we'll see how she deals with this, then.
So, that's your breakfast, Isabelle.
I don't know if you'd normally eat curry for breakfast.
No, it's not what I normally have.
The airtight chamber will help us to analyse changes
in Isabelle's metabolic rate.
That's a measure of how quickly the body is burning calories.
It's calculated by recording the amount of oxygen
that Isabelle breathes in and the carbon dioxide she breathes out.
Half an hour after she's eaten,
we look to see if the chilli is having any effect.
As you can see, when she ate the chilli meal,
her metabolism goes up to this level here.
The first indications are that
the chilli is having a striking effect on how many calories
Isabelle is using up.
It's down to something inside the chilli.
The chemical that gives them their fiery heat.
Capsaicin.
Found mainly around the white core and seeds.
Capsaicin's effect on us
has to do with a certain type of fat in our bodies.
We've always known that babies have this type of fat,
but scientists have recently found it in adults, too.
What lights up is metabolically active tissues.
So, I can see that the heart is really lighting up here
as being metabolically active and really glowing,
but there's also all this glowing going on up in the armpits
and up in the neck, so what's that?
This is actually active brown fat.
We all have two kinds of fat.
White fat and brown fat.
This is what fat looks like under the microscope.
And on the left side here
you can see the typical appearance of white fat
and on the right side we can see what brown fat looks like.
When we eat chilli, the capsaicin turns on this brown fat.
And activating the brown fat makes us burn calories
and use up white fat.
So, if you imagine this amount of brown fat,
which is around 2 or 3g.
If this was activated over the course of a whole year,
it would actually burn its way through about 4kg of fat.
This amount of lard.
That's fascinating --
essentially, this white fat is acting like a fuel depot for it.
That's absolutely right.
It's actually an astonishing illustration
of the potential for this brown fat facilitating weight loss.
Back in the chamber, Isabelle has now eaten both of her meals
and been monitored throughout.
OK, Isabelle, how was that? How did you find it?
It's nice to be back out. But, yes, it's been a long nine hours.
- Yeah. - Oh, I bet it's nice to be on the outside.
- It is indeed, yeah. - Out of solitary confinement, yeah.
It's time to compare how many calories she burned after each meal.
- Are you interested to see the results? - I am indeed. OK.
So, Isabelle burnt up an extra 58 calories
after eating the chilli meal compared with the non-chilli meal.
That's the equivalent of going for a five-minute run.
Or skipping one small chocolate-chip cookie.
Did you have any idea that chilli had this effect on the body?
Well, no. I've actually been really surprised
with what's been found today -- it's very interesting.
Dr Barber's research shows the power of the chilli.
Capsaicin can stimulate the body to burn more calories
and, in the process, burn more fat.
Just eating a small meal with chilli in it really does
make your body burn more fuel.
But, if you are hoping to shed the pounds,
I'm afraid you can't just rely on chilli.
I've been a chef for over 20 years
and in that time I've learned plenty of tricks of the trade.
I'm talking about tips and techniques that as a chef
I see as second nature, but you might not know about.
Now, I'd like to share with you those trade secrets
to show you, that with a little bit of practice,
how easy they are to master.
If you've made a mouth-watering roast dinner
then you'll want a gravy to match.
Lots of people try and fail with gravy.
So, this is how many professional chefs make theirs.
The first thing is roasting a bit of meat, leave it to rest.
So the tray has got all these lovely roasting juices
and bits of meat in there, loads of flavour.
And it's important that we keep this
cos this is going to put loads of depth into that gravy.
Just going to put it on the heat.
And as it's heating up, just kind of release all those lovely bits.
Well, this is going to be the base to the gravy,
this is what's going to help thicken it.
Next, you add two heaped tablespoons of plain flour
and cook for 2 minutes.
Then pour in a couple of ladles of good-quality chicken stock.
And finally give it a whisk.
And the trick to making good gravy is to take your time.
Bit by bit, just slowly let that flour cook out.
Then just when it's all been absorbed and it's quite thick,
you can add another ladle or two.
After five minutes, lower the heat.
Now you might think that looks good enough and stop there.
But here's how chefs go one stage further
and transform the flavour of gravy.
Firstly, thyme. So, these are whole thyme sprigs.
I'm going to leave them to infuse.
Now, these are sliced button mushrooms.
Now, these have got their own natural water in them.
So, when they go in, they'll break down
and slightly loosen up that gravy.
But they also have a wonderful flavour to them
and will give lots of body to a sauce.
And then lastly, banana shallots.
These have a wonderful sweetness to them.
I've not fried them off so that as they cook,
all of their natural juices will release into that gravy.
Here's another little tip. Leave the skin on the shallots.
Now, the reason for this is, skin gives colour.
It's going to give a lovely light-brown tinge
to this already lovely brown chicken gravy.
OK, this gravy's been gently simmering away.
So, what I'm going to do is pass it through a fine sieve
into a saucepan.
And this way, you get out all of those bits and bobs.
Now, the last thing to go in is a splash of wine.
In a lot of sauce recipes they tell you to add the wine
at the beginning and boil the alcohol away.
But with me, I like to add it at the end.
That way you use less of it
and it gives it a real raw kick of alcohol
that kind of cuts through the richness of the gravy
you've already made.
So, just a little splash. Doesn't take much.
And that's amazing, it suddenly lifts everything.
It brings it to life, it makes it feel alive.
Those roasting juices from the tray
means it doesn't need any seasoning because it's already salty enough.
Gravy jug, ready for serving.
Amazing roast chicken, watercress salad, lovely roast potatoes,
but, most importantly, perfect gravy.
A few simple rules, super smooth every single time.
For more information on all the trade secrets go to...
True or False?
Fresh tuna is an oily fish, but canned tuna isn't.
The answer is true.
Oily fish has to contain omega 3.
The canning process removes much of this omega 3.
So, only fresh tuna qualifies as an oily fish.
Ten years ago, the Food Standards Agency asked that
food products have nutritional information
printed on the packaging.
They recommended a traffic-light system.
The idea is that green, amber or red shows us at a glance
if the food we're thinking of buying
has low, medium or high amounts of sugars, fat, and salt.
But it's not the same for everything. Have a look at this one.
Some manufactures don't use colours at all.
And this one has red on a red background.
It's not just the colours of the traffic-light labels
that are inconsistent.
It can also be very difficult to accurately compare
nutritional information between products.
The problem is, it's left up to the food manufacturers
to interpret the rules of the traffic-light system.
Law professor and labelling expert
Richard Hyde from the University Of Nottingham
is going to show me what to look out for.
So, what's the story behind nutrition labelling?
Because it's not very clear.
It's really, really confusing for consumers.
It's important that they know a bit more about how to read those labels.
We're going to put the labelling system to the test
with the help of the best minds we could find.
Three top chess players.
- Good morning, everyone. - Morning.
Tim, Alex and Steve are as smart as it gets
when it comes to tactics and strategy.
We want to see if they can figure out how much fat
is in some everyday foods.
In just ten seconds.
That's the amount of time people generally spend
Are you ready, then?
Our chess players will order the food from one to three.
The least fat to the most.
They're starting with three packs of sliced ham.
But it seems like the guys had decided on something
and Alex came in and sabotaged it!
- Are you happy with that, Tim? - I'm happy with the last move. I think it's good.
You didn't get it right, I'm afraid. These two should have been swapped around.
This is the one with the most amount of fat. It's got 1.4g of fat compared to 0.7g and 0.8g.
There's something funny going on here with the portion sizes
to look at in these labels.
But it's also got the largest portion size. Half a pack.
This one here is judged only by slice.
And this one, 0.8g of fat for a quarter of a pack.
How do you feel about that?
- It's hard. They're all different sizes. - Confusing.
All completely different ways of doing it.
If you're confused by the front of the pack,
what you really need to do is turn it over.
And if you look at it closely, per 100g here
this has got 2.4g.
Whereas this packet has 3.1g.
And if we'd have looked at the back of the packets,
we would have been able to much more easily
arrange them in the correct order.
If the manufacturers can manipulate the portion size,
they can make something that's not healthy
look very healthy, can't they?
Manufacturers are in control of portion size or serving size,
and they can alter this to make their products look
like they've got less fat in or make them look like they're more healthy.
Surely that's illegal?
Well, the portion sizing isn't regulated.
The main thing is that it has to not be misleading.
So, if you want to compare products accurately,
look at the figures per 100g.
That's a much more reliable way of deciding which is healthiest.
Next, three tubs of coleslaw.
Once again, our chess players will order them from 1 to 3,
the least fat to the most.
And this time, just to mix things up,
we've included a 50%-less-fat version, as well.
Go!
- That's got 5.7. - I can't see the fat. - I can't see the fat.
Three, two, one, stop!
Totally confused, I think.
I think you'd need a PHD in Maths
to do all the calculations in ten seconds.
Well, you've got a degree in Maths, haven't you?
It's true. But this is hard!
OK. These two need to be swapped round.
- Really? - I'm really shocked by this
because I tend to go for 50% less fat.
I'd pick that one.
And yet it's not anywhere near as good as this Smart Price one.
In fact, the Smart Price coleslaw has 5.7g of fat per 100g,
whereas the 50% less fat
has an astonishing 12g of fat per 100g.
So, we should all be suspicious of labels that read "Reduced fat"
or claim to be "Light".
They can trick you into thinking
they're healthier than they actually are.
The only phrase you can trust is "Low fat"
as this is regulated and can only be used if a product contains
less than 3% fat.
Food labels are supposed to make things simple,
but from what I've seen today, even a PhD in maths won't help you.
We put our findings to the supermarkets.
Asda told us...
And the Co-op said...
We're a nation that loves cooking,
but sometimes we all need a helping hand.
Tom's sharing his expertise, so we can all improve our cooking skills.
Oh, they look good.
I put a shoutout on social media for your kitchen fails
and you've sent me loads.
From risotto that's welded to the bottom of the pot
to Yorkshire Puddings you could use as a doorstop.
Over the years, I've had to learn a fix for almost every kitchen fail.
And that's why I'm here. To share what I know.
This time I'm on a mission to help Faye Tudor with her kitchen fail.
Steak.
Nice bit of rump steak.
Lots of moving about, lots of nervous cookery.
Not leaving it alone. Lots of prodding.
And then flipping it around as if it's a stir fry!
There's a few issues here, but we can solve this.
Faye lives in Dunoon, on the West Coast of Scotland,
where she works at a local college.
- Faye. - Hi, Tom. - Hello, mate. How are you? Are you alright?
- Problems with steak? - Yes, come on in.
Faye's going to run me through how she normally cooks her steak,
so I can see where she's going wrong.
- Straight into the pan and give it...? - Straight into the pan.
OK. Yeah.
Straightaway I can see some improvements we could make!
So, I'm just trying to get a bit of colour on it now.
OK.
- Sorry. - That's all right.
- It looks a bit anaemic. - Yeah.
- A little bit beige. - Yeah.
I mean, beige is nice if it's a car from the 1970s.
- How do you want it cooked? - Medium.
We need to inject a bit of colour and flavour into this steak
and show Fay how to avoid overcooking it and drying it out.
You're going to cook this steak.
Now, you want it on just a fairly gentle, low heat to start with.
The cut of meat you choose is important.
Faye went for rump, but I recommend a ribeye.
Now, this ribeye for me is perfect frying steak.
Cos this is well marbled.
But it's really, really important cos that marble, that's fat
that as it cooks, it breaks down.
It's like a natural butter.
Drop it into the pan away from you.
Instantly. Instant sizzle.
- Do you remember when you put yours in? - Yeah.
It kind of sat there, stewed for a little bit.
You know that's cooking straightaway.
And that cooking process, that colouring process of the meat,
- is called the Maillard process. - Right, OK.
And that's where the sugars are breaking down
through a chemical process
and beginning to caramelise really, really nicely.
The Maillard reaction happens when the meat is seared.
Proteins on the surface combine with sugars in the meat.
This creates the brown colour and adds to that meaty flavour.
When you were cooking your steak, Faye,
you were pressing down with your spatula.
The more you push it, you're squeezing out moisture.
and almost steaming your steak.
Now, you like it medium,
so turn the heat down and then you add the juice there of a lemon.
Now that steaming process is helping to continue cook.
I'd say that's it.
You're going to leave this to rest now for five or six minutes.
The reason you should rest a steak is because the cooking process
forces the muscle fibres of the meat to firm up
and push moisture out towards the surface of the steak.
When we leave it to rest, those fibres relax
and the juices gets reabsorbed,
giving you time to knock up a peppercorn sauce.
Yeah, it looks fantastic. Fantastic. Well done, you.
Finally, over the last few years, our shopping habits
have changed dramatically.
Loyalty towards traditional brands
has been replaced by an appetite for supermarket own-label items.
at different price points.
Basic, standard and premium.
But when is it worth spending extra on premium?
To find out, we're dissecting own-brand products
here at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh.
This time, it's bread.
In some supermarkets, a loaf of budget white bread
is less than half the price of the premium loaves.
So, what are we really paying for?
To help me find out is nutritionist Dr Carrie Ruxton.
You might think bread is made from a few simple ingredients,
but there are up to 13 in some of these loaves.
I've made bread at home
and I don't remember most of the things here.
There are a lot of ingredients in these breads,
but if we're making bread at home,
we in fact only need four ingredients,
which is wheat flour, water, yeast and salt.
OK, but there are so many other things.
- I mean, what's that one -- fatty acids? - Yeah.
With a very long name.
Fatty-acid esters. You're getting those on all of them
and what they're basically doing is they're acting as an emulsifier.
Emulsifiers and oils are added
to help bind these ingredients together.
And there's another ingredient added across all the brands.
Sugar.
It's surprising that there's sugar in the premium bread.
I would have thought it would be the other way round --
that there'd be sugar in the budget bread.
Well, there's sugar in the budget bread, too.
Because you've got dextrose in there, but you've got sucrose --
table sugar -- in here.
And table sugar and things like fermented wheat.
A bit more expensive, so they do tend to be
in the premium and standard ranges
where they're helping with the flavour.
Dextrose is an ingredient in some budget breads
because it's made from plants such as corn.
So, it's easier and cheaper to produce than other forms of sugar.
Now, when you look at all these ingredients,
I just think maybe it's not so healthy.
What's the nutritional value,
ranging from the budget to the premium?
Well, there is a lot of nutrition in bread
because wheat flour is fortified.
So, there's extra B vitamins, iron and calcium
added back into white flour
because the processing takes out the bran which is the healthy bit,
the good bit, and so you have to put all those nutrients back in again.
So, you end up with a white loaf that's actually got double
the calcium in it of a wholemeal loaf.
So, what are you saying? That white bread is healthier than brown bread?
Not necessarily, because, of course, wholemeal bread
is high in fibre and you're getting the natural vitamins
from the brans.
So, at the end of the day, I would still go for the wholemeal.
But Carrie's in the minority.
White bread accounts for 76% of all the bread sold in the UK.
But which bread tastes better? Basic, standard or premium?
Our panel of taste testers will help us find out.
But first, what do they buy?
Who eats premium bread?
OK, Jane, why premium bread?
I feel it has a nicer flavour.
And does the price matter to you?
It does. As long as it's not extortionate.
Time for taste test.
Our volunteers will try ten different white breads
from four of the main supermarkets.
It's a blind test,
so no-one knows whether they're eating the cheap or expensive kind.
Dr Laura Wyness has the results.
Well, Laura, which one came out on top?
It was actually the premium which came out on top.
It scored 6.1 out of a possible 9.
Followed by the standard, scored 4.6.
And then the budget was 4.5.
Premium was the clear winner,
but there wasn't much to choose between standard and basic.
And in terms of price, the premium is £1.15 on average.
- Well, you're paying for the flavour, aren't you? - Yeah.
But these two, the budget is around 35p, around about that.
And the standard is around about 50p.
So, they're all made the same way.
Has that changed the way you think about buying bread?
I wouldn't say massively.
So, even though you know there's not much difference in ingredients,
you still wouldn't buy the budget bread?
No, cos the experience of the premium bread is much nicer
than the experience of the basic.
So, yeah, nutritionally, it doesn't really matter.
Lindsay, you have good taste!
So, premium comes out on top in terms of taste.
And that's because it's got a couple of extra ingredients in it,
but if you're watching your pennies, you might want to go for budget
or standard because all these breads are made in a very similar way.
Next time, can you alter how food tastes
without changing a single ingredient? I'll find out.
Who thinks they're eating a different mousse
and a different wine in each of the different lights?
It seemed all different to me.
Sean pulls apart the ingredients of the great British banger
to see what we're really paying for.
There is quite a difference in the fat content.
It is a huge difference, isn't it?
And failed roast potatoes.
Tom has the secret to success.
Just lacking seasoning and flavour.
But I know how we can make these better.
There haven't been sort of personality changes?
There's definite changes. Especially on the emotional side of it.