Food Detectives (2016)

Episode 1 (1x1)

Air date: Apr 15, 2016

In the first episode, Prof Alice Roberts reveals that three quarters of us are taking home a food poisoning bug with us from the supermarket. It is a health food scandal that few of us have even heard of. Campylobacter is the most common cause of food poisoning in the UK. When chickens are slaughtered, the bacteria can contaminate the surface of the bird. It has been found on fresh chilled chickens bought from all the major supermarkets. The food industry has promised to reduce the levels of contamination, but has it? We commissioned our own survey of campylobacter levels on supermarket chickens to find out. Tom Kerridge is on a mission to improve our cooking skills one dish at a time. He responds to the public's kitchen disasters - everything from rice that turns to mush to Yorkshire puddings that fail to rise. Tom travels around the country turning kitchen fails into a kitchen success. This time he's in Poole in Dorset to help a viewer who just can't seem to cook fish without ruining it. And he shares his trade secret for perfect pork by using a process called brining. Supermarkets offer a range of own brand products at different prices, ranging from basic, standard to premium. So when is it worth spending more on premium and when is a money-saving basic just as good? With the help of food scientists, our consumer journalist Sean Fletcher is pulling apart the ingredients in some everyday foods to find out - this time it's pasta. Pasta has really only one ingredient, yet premium pasta can be over £1 more expensive than budget, so just what are we paying for?