1
00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:06,760
Every day 11.5 million of us take
packed lunches to work or school.

2
00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:11,640
But how many of us actually think
about what's going on with the food
that ends up in our lunch boxes?

3
00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:15,520
What is the difference
between a cake and a biscuit,
other than the way they look?

4
00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:17,800
Just the way they're processed,
I guess.

5
00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:20,360
A biscuit's hard.

6
00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:24,800
Why do you reckon
you don't see cucumbers like this
in the supermarket?

7
00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:26,840
Far too big.
That's too big, you think.

8
00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:30,480
That one's completely wrong.
Completely out of joint that one.

9
00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:33,360
What do you reckon the connection
is between this slime,

10
00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:38,200
a rotting cabbage
and a very popular supermarket food?

11
00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:40,480
I'm pretty sure I don't want to know.

12
00:00:40,480 --> 00:00:43,680
I'm going to reveal the secrets
in the packed lunch box...

13
00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:44,800
Food Factory style.

14
00:00:49,160 --> 00:00:51,840
MUSIC: "Rubber Biscuit" by The Chips

15
00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:04,640
There are thousands of products
to choose from in the supermarket

16
00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:07,720
but most of us wouldn't have
a clue what goes into making them.

17
00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:14,400
So I've set up my own food factory
inside this barn, to find out
what they're doing with our food.

18
00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:19,280
It may look as though
it's full of junk,
but it's got everything I need

19
00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:23,080
to discover
the secrets of supermarket food.

20
00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:28,400
If you decide on a carton of
fruit juice for your packed lunch,

21
00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:30,280
there's so many to choose from.

22
00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:33,840
Freshly squeezed, from concentrate,
not from concentrate,

23
00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:35,680
with bits, without bits!

24
00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:39,200
But what's
really in your fruit juice?

25
00:01:40,960 --> 00:01:43,040
I want to see how many sugar lumps

26
00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:46,200
you think represents
the amount of sugar in each glass.

27
00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:48,960
Two? One sugar lump there.

28
00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:51,320
What have you got there?
Ridiculous amount.

29
00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:54,160
More sugar than apples.

30
00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:56,640
There are five
sugar lumps in cloudy.

31
00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:59,560
In one glass?
And there's five in clear.

32
00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:00,840
Oh, the same.

33
00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:02,000
Really?

34
00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:07,600
Boil down a glass of apple juice

35
00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:10,840
and this charred pulp is
what's left behind.

36
00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:12,120
Let's taste a bit.

37
00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:16,680
And you see the glistening on the
surface, well, that's the sugar.

38
00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:19,200
It's naturally occurring fruit sugar

39
00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:22,160
but there's about the same
amount of calories in fruit juice

40
00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:24,080
as there is in a fizzy drink.

41
00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:29,520
Concentrated apple juice is
identical to freshly squeezed when
it comes to sugar and calories.

42
00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:30,960
So what is the difference?

43
00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:34,400
And why is it cheaper than
other apple juices?

44
00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:37,160
What are the factories up to?

45
00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:39,680
Well, to find out,
I'm going to make my own.

46
00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:45,240
Here in the barn, I've got
everything I need to squeeze out

47
00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:49,840
the Food Factory secrets of
apple juice made from concentrate.

48
00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:54,320
Now, the main ingredient of
apple juice is of course, apples.

49
00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,120
All I've got to do is chop them up.

50
00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:02,160
I could stick them in a juicer
but I'd be here all day.

51
00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:05,480
I need to make
apple juice on an industrial scale.

52
00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:09,440
This will do the job.

53
00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:16,040
I'm going to chop my apples
with a lawnmower
and catch the bits in this box.

54
00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:18,480
Let's see if it works.

55
00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:20,640
Apples away!

56
00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:23,160
JIMMY LAUGHS

57
00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:29,040
The factories don't have lawnmowers
but they do use lots
of sharp rotating blades.

58
00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:49,480
Look at that apple.
Beautifully chopped.

59
00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:51,800
All I've got to do now is press it.

60
00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:57,720
To get at the juice, I need a
sheet of muslin and a mangle.

61
00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:02,560
I'll wrap up my chopped apples
and then squeeze them
between the rollers.

62
00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:06,000
The juice will collect
in this bucket.

63
00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:07,640
Looks more like vinegar.

64
00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:11,320
This set-up lets me shift
lots of apples

65
00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:15,160
just like the factories,
and produce bucket loads of juice.

66
00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:20,440
In the UK, we drink 185 million
litres a year.

67
00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:24,440
Have a look at that!

68
00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:26,080
There's loads of it!

69
00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:27,760
It does look like muddy water,

70
00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:30,320
or I've been peeling
some potatoes in here.

71
00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:32,600
Let's pour some out.

72
00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:35,880
So that's freshly squeezed.

73
00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:39,720
But I want to make
the "from concentrate" stuff
and that's usually clear.

74
00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:44,120
So I've used filter paper.

75
00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:45,560
Let's have a look.

76
00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:51,520
It's clearer.

77
00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:56,000
It's not crystal clear,
but it's not that muddy, muddy sort
of apple juice we had before.

78
00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:01,040
But what I'm going to do now
is concentrate it, and I'm going
to do that by evaporation.

79
00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:10,600
Now as the apple juice heats up,
it smells wonderful, really appley!

80
00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:12,080
But that's the problem.

81
00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:15,880
I'm losing all that aroma, the very
essence of the apple, into the air.

82
00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:20,800
What a waste. To stop it escaping,

83
00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:25,680
some juice geniuses found a way
to capture that appley-ness.

84
00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:33,560
They use something
called a steam distiller.

85
00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:35,200
My version is a kitchen pedal bin.

86
00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:37,480
There you go,
this is what you call a has-bin.

87
00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:42,920
On top of my bin goes
a length of copper pipe.

88
00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:46,600
It'll attach to a clever bit
of kit I've got inside.

89
00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:50,840
Hopefully they'll trap
the essence of the apples.

90
00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:57,920
The leftover mush from the mangle
might lack the juice

91
00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:00,160
but it still has the flavour.

92
00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:02,400
So it goes onto these shelves

93
00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:05,080
and I've attached
a couple of wallpaper steamers.

94
00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:09,400
Now the steam is going to rise up
through my bin

95
00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:11,560
through the layers of apple.

96
00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,200
And then it'll travel through
this copper pipe,

97
00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:16,760
hopefully carrying all that lovely
essence of apple,

98
00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:18,280
until it reaches this chamber.

99
00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:20,840
Now in this chamber are
a series of copper pipes that have

100
00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:21,040
Now in this chamber are
a series of copper pipes that have

101
00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:24,160
cold water running through them
and that will make it condense.

102
00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:29,040
All that steam will condense, just
like the hot steam in your bathroom
condenses on the cold mirror.

103
00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:31,840
Then it trickles down here
and collects in the jug,

104
00:06:31,840 --> 00:06:33,640
and what I should be left with

105
00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:36,360
is some water
that's laced with apple essence.

106
00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:43,440
Here we go, first little drop,
just arrived there.

107
00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:48,880
There we go, look at that!

108
00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:56,840
Right, let's have a look at this!

109
00:06:56,840 --> 00:06:59,520
Really excited about this.

110
00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:02,120
You know it does...
it does smell appley.

111
00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:10,080
I'm adding those intense
applely flavours back into the juice
which has been boiling away.

112
00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:14,280
So why evaporate the
water in the first place?

113
00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:16,160
The answer is money.

114
00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:22,040
By concentrating the juice
it's cheaper to store
and transport around the world.

115
00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:25,760
There we go,
I've made apple concentrate!

116
00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:29,680
But the crazy thing is that
having gone to all that effort
to get the water out,

117
00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:31,120
I've now got to put it back in.

118
00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:36,960
So I'm adding enough water to turn
it back to its original strength.

119
00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:43,600
The water only gets added when the
concentrate reaches its destination.

120
00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:48,440
So does THIS affect the taste when
compared to the freshly
squeezed juice I made earlier?

121
00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:51,880
It's a bit like gravy.

122
00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:56,800
Oh, that's lovely,
it's not too sharp.

123
00:07:56,800 --> 00:08:00,840
It's got a lovely sweetness to it
and it's a really rich apple taste.

124
00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:06,440
Next, is my clear apple juice.

125
00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:08,640
Believe it or not,
made from concentrate.

126
00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:12,360
I mean, it's not really clear,
is it? Let's have a little taste.

127
00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:17,520
That is definitely
apple-flavoured water.

128
00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:20,560
It hasn't got that richness
of the apple juice there,

129
00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:23,320
the really cloudy one,
but it's not bad, not bad at all.

130
00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:27,240
But I've got to say, out of both
of them, it's this one I prefer.

131
00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:31,360
Both have the
same ingredients, apples.

132
00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:34,160
It's how the manufacturers
transport the juice

133
00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:36,720
that makes the difference.

134
00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:40,800
That's why concentrate
is usually cheaper
than its freshly squeezed cousin.

135
00:08:41,680 --> 00:08:45,400
There we go - my very own
apple juice made from concentrate.

136
00:08:53,680 --> 00:08:58,000
No packed lunch is complete without
a nice slice of cake or a biscuit.

137
00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:01,680
Now to me,
they look completely different

138
00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:06,280
but would you believe there
was a huge legal battle to sort out
the difference between them?

139
00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:10,920
What's the difference
between a cake and a biscuit?

140
00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:13,720
Aren't biscuits cooked twice?

141
00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:16,360
Perhaps you can dunk these
and you can't dunk these.

142
00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:18,920
You could try and dunk a cake.
It would make a mess.

143
00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:21,680
I've watched QI, you see, so I know.
Oh, have you, go on.

144
00:09:21,680 --> 00:09:24,440
Cakes go hard when they're
stale and biscuits go soft.

145
00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:26,360
Oh, perfect, you're an expert.

146
00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:27,800
He's right.

147
00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:31,640
But why do cakes
go hard when they're stale,

148
00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:33,040
while biscuits go soft?

149
00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:40,760
I've come to one of
Britain's biggest biscuit
factories to find out.

150
00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:49,120
It's home to one of the nation's
favourites, the custard cream.

151
00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:54,880
It's Matt Brophy's job to make sure
they've got their crunch.

152
00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:59,080
The thing about custard cream,
is the custard in the middle.
How do you make the custard?

153
00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:01,320
There's no custard
in the custard cream.

154
00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:04,080
No custard? So you've been
lying to me all these years!

155
00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:05,560
THEY LAUGH

156
00:10:05,560 --> 00:10:08,600
No custard! That takes the biscuit.

157
00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:13,280
As it turns out,
quite a lot of biscuit.

158
00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:17,760
The dough is made from, flour,
sugar, oil and biscuit crumb,

159
00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:20,360
recycled biscuits
from the production line.

160
00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:25,880
So this is the dough after
mixing for 30 seconds?
Let's have a look at it.

161
00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:28,000
As you can see it's very, very dry.

162
00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:29,560
Cor, it is dry! It's very flaky.

163
00:10:29,560 --> 00:10:32,440
I had some sort of visions of
a lovely big old mixing bowl,

164
00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:35,960
like, you'd want to lick the bowl.
Very different to a cake, very dry.

165
00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:40,280
You wouldn't want to lick this.
Your tongue would disappear,
take all the moisture out of it.

166
00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:45,760
This dough is as dry as dust,
but that won't stop it

167
00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:49,240
getting the classic custard cream
stamp of approval!

168
00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:53,360
So what would happen then, if that
mix was a little bit more moist?

169
00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:57,080
If you get too much moisture in
what happens is
the dough becomes too stretchy.

170
00:10:57,080 --> 00:11:00,600
We don't want it to be stretchy,
we want to keep
the shape of the biscuit.

171
00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:05,120
And also if it's too moist,
it sticks inside the mould.
Look at them, there's millions!

172
00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:09,920
You're sure they're not just the
same biscuits going round and round?
No, every one's a new one!

173
00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:14,040
So how do you give
your custard cream its crunch?

174
00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:20,480
Each biscuit treks 80 metres
through a blazing hot oven.

175
00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:24,560
I can feel its getting hotter
and hotter, it's incredible!

176
00:11:24,560 --> 00:11:26,200
Like a sauna.

177
00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:39,360
How much moisture is in the mix
before they go in the oven?

178
00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:43,080
Starts off at 14%
when they are in the dough stage,

179
00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:47,040
by the time it's been through the
oven it's been dried down to 2%.

180
00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:51,960
How do you test, is it done
by tasting? No, it's more scientific
than that, we use infrared.

181
00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:55,440
Moisture absorbs infrared light.

182
00:11:55,440 --> 00:11:59,240
So biscuit boffins shine it
onto a crushed up biscuit.

183
00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:03,160
Then they see how much infrared
is reflected back.

184
00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:07,120
And the computer works out
how moist the biscuit is.

185
00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:09,240
Close to 2% is what they want.

186
00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:11,520
So 1.71.

187
00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:15,960
That's an ideal level,
that gives us a good snap on the
biscuit and a good crumbly texture.

188
00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:19,400
And the kind of biscuit
you want to dunk in your tea.

189
00:12:20,680 --> 00:12:27,120
Once the biscuits are cooked
they take a trip around the factory
to cool, but it's not over yet.

190
00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:31,160
What's a custard cream
without the cream?

191
00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:33,480
Now, you can't fool me.

192
00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:34,880
Cream, it's soft, it's wet,

193
00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:39,760
it's going to put moisture in the
biscuits. There's actually
no water in here. It's a dry mix.

194
00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:42,800
It's made up of vegetable oils,
sugar, and some flavourings.

195
00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:47,240
So the secret is to make the cream
soft, but in a way, it's still dry.

196
00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:50,240
And that keeps your biscuit
nice and crunchy. It does.

197
00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:54,960
At last it's time to introduce
the biscuits to the cream.

198
00:12:54,960 --> 00:13:00,120
Here, 250,000 biscuits an hour
meet their other half.

199
00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:02,280
It's custard cream speed dating!

200
00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:06,760
So you've spent all this time and
trouble keeping your biscuit dry,

201
00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:09,200
even the cream you put in
doesn't make it go soggy.

202
00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:11,760
So why does a biscuit go soggy?

203
00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:13,760
Because it's so dry,

204
00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:16,640
it absorbs any moisture
that's in the atmosphere.

205
00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:19,760
If there's moisture
in the atmosphere, it sucks
it into the biscuit.

206
00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:22,960
It's almost like the biscuit is
thirsty so it has a drink. It does.

207
00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:29,320
So a biscuit gets soggy because
it absorbs moisture from the air.

208
00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:34,360
But a cake goes hard because it
contains more moisture than the air.

209
00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:37,000
As this evaporates,
the cake dries out.

210
00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:41,680
So that's why cakes go hard
and biscuits go soft.

211
00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:48,320
But Matt's biscuits
could still end up going stale if he
doesn't get them wrapped quickly.

212
00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:53,440
These ladies, they don't count
these biscuits, but each time they
know exactly how many to put on.

213
00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:56,720
Hours of practice. Fancy having a go?

214
00:13:56,720 --> 00:13:58,520
It makes me quite nervous.

215
00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:07,280
Come on, Jim, get in there.

216
00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:22,480
It's too hard!

217
00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:32,240
Does your sarnie look a sorry
state without a dollop of mayo?

218
00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:35,520
Well, mayo is
about three-quarter's fat

219
00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:40,000
and one spoonful has
about the same amount of calories
as a packet of crisps.

220
00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:45,600
But then there's this stuff, "extra
light" mayonnaise with just 3% fat.

221
00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:50,160
A spoonful of this is the calorie
equivalent of a couple of crisps.

222
00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:54,520
Would you know which is which
just by the taste?

223
00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:59,080
We've got two different mayonnaises
here, now one is your regular,
that's 77% fat,

224
00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:02,440
and the other one
is a low fat at 3% fat.

225
00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:05,960
I want you to tell me
which one is the low fat one.

226
00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:07,520
You can always tell low fat.

227
00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:10,240
It's usually disgusting.
JIMMY LAUGHS

228
00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:14,120
I think that one's the low fat one.
You're dead right.

229
00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:17,520
I reckon that one's got the most fat.
I reckon that one.

230
00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:19,520
You reckon that one,
you reckon that one.

231
00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:23,640
Well, the one that you thought was
low fat was actually the normal one.

232
00:15:23,640 --> 00:15:26,800
Cool, I'm more
of a salad cream man myself!

233
00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:34,000
So it turns out it isn't that easy
to tell the difference
between low and full fat mayo.

234
00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:40,760
So how can food manufacturers
cut out so much fat and still end
up with something mayonnaise-y?

235
00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:44,400
And what do the
factories put in instead?

236
00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:48,840
Well, to shed some light
on extra light mayonnaise,
I'm going to make my own.

237
00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:53,040
Making normal mayonnaise is easy.

238
00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:56,320
Got a little bit of vinegar,
that goes in.

239
00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:59,560
Then some egg yolks, mustard...

240
00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:02,000
and a whole jug of oil.

241
00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:04,080
Mix it all together.

242
00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:06,480
How's that for a mixer?

243
00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:16,000
On their own, these ingredients
don't sit well on a sarnie,

244
00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:21,080
but whisk them together
and they're transformed
into silky smooth mayonnaise.

245
00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:29,680
Now oil is an important
ingredient in mayonnaise,

246
00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:31,600
but if I want
to make light mayonnaise

247
00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:33,720
what can I substitute it with?

248
00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:36,120
Well, the answer's simple...water!

249
00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:37,960
Let's have a go.

250
00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:42,720
The ingredients are
almost the same as before.

251
00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:47,320
The big difference is that
most of the oil has been replaced
with calorie-free water.

252
00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:50,600
Look at this, totally different.

253
00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:52,600
It's more like a milkshake.

254
00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:55,320
Really thin, really runny.

255
00:16:55,320 --> 00:17:00,960
Now the mayonnaise went nice
and thick because the oil
and the vinegar all stuck together.

256
00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:02,840
But this, look at that.

257
00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:04,760
I couldn't put that on a sandwich.

258
00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:11,120
Using water instead of oil
is great news for us,
but hard work for the factory.

259
00:17:11,120 --> 00:17:16,800
They still have to fake
the consistency of fat, somehow.

260
00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:19,840
Now this is a lovely fresh cabbage,

261
00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:23,040
but when a cabbage
begins to go off and become rotten

262
00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:26,920
you often see lots of little black
spots appearing that are slimy,

263
00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:33,240
and believe it or not it's that very
slime that food manufacturers use
to thicken mayonnaise.

264
00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:37,360
That slime is called xanthan gum.

265
00:17:37,360 --> 00:17:43,000
It's made by Xanthomonas
campestris bacteria that eat
cabbage leaves for breakfast.

266
00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:48,840
It doesn't really taste of anything,
but it just feels
like wallpaper paste. Ooh!

267
00:17:50,120 --> 00:17:52,400
But I'm not bothered
about the taste.

268
00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:54,360
It's texture that matters here.

269
00:17:54,360 --> 00:17:58,800
Xanthan gum has a consistency
that's similar to oil.

270
00:18:00,360 --> 00:18:05,440
As disappointing as it may seem,
mayonnaise factories
don't rely on rotting cabbages.

271
00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:09,120
They use the slime
from xanthan bacteria that's
been especially grown.

272
00:18:09,120 --> 00:18:10,600
And that's what I'm going to do.

273
00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:17,080
I'm putting together what
bacteria boffins call a bio-reactor.

274
00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:19,720
Right, a few more holes.

275
00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:24,080
In this vat will go
lots of bacteria,

276
00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:27,600
all keen to make
that gooey xanthan gum.

277
00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:29,320
There we go, that works a treat.

278
00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:34,720
Now that's my stirring paddle
which is being powered by the
motor from an ice cream maker.

279
00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:38,400
Now inside the box will go water
and my bacteria and they'll be kept

280
00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:42,040
lovely and warm with these
little heating elements here.

281
00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:46,600
Hopefully, I should end up with
lots of bacteria and lots of slime.

282
00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,560
The first step
is to sterilise my bio-reactor.

283
00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:55,480
I'll do that with steam power.

284
00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:58,400
Right, time to switch the steam on.

285
00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:01,560
This should kill off any rogue bugs.

286
00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:03,160
Then in goes the food.

287
00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:08,640
A bacteria-licious cocktail of sugar
and yeast extract.

288
00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:11,360
Right, now it's time
for my xanthan bacteria.

289
00:19:11,360 --> 00:19:15,200
They've been grown under
sophisticated laboratory conditions,

290
00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:17,560
so let's see
how they get on in my box.

291
00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:19,280
I reckon you'll be all right.

292
00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:25,800
Right, let's close the lid...
and turn on the motor.

293
00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:29,000
It'll take a couple of days for
these bacteria to produce the slime

294
00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:31,440
and then they're going to
help us make some mayonnaise.

295
00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:33,680
Right, get to it.

296
00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:43,600
There we go, I've got
a nice bit of ham, some lettuce,

297
00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:45,880
all I need now is some cucumber.

298
00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:50,120
These weird looking things
don't look like the ones
you see in the supermarket.

299
00:19:50,120 --> 00:19:52,840
So, would you buy one?

300
00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:57,120
What do you go for?
Are you straight or curly?

301
00:19:57,120 --> 00:19:58,880
I'm straight!

302
00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:02,280
Why do you think people choose
straight cucumbers over curly ones?

303
00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:05,800
Because it looks nicer
and it'll taste better.

304
00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:07,840
It's because
that's what they're used to.

305
00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:10,880
That's what supermarkets have.
Probably easier to slice.

306
00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:14,360
That's a good idea. So you don't
have to go round a corner? Yes!

307
00:20:16,360 --> 00:20:19,400
If you want
to know about growing cucumbers,

308
00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:21,600
well, this is the place to come.

309
00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:23,960
This is a monster greenhouse.

310
00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:31,680
It's the biggest
cucumber glasshouse in Britain.

311
00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:37,440
Rob James is the man who
has to keep all these cucumbers

312
00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:40,120
on the straight and narrow.

313
00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:44,200
Wow, this is incredible.
How big is this greenhouse?

314
00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:49,880
This is over six hectares
with 185,000 cucumber plants.

315
00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:52,120
That's a lot of cucumbers.

316
00:20:52,120 --> 00:20:55,640
Massive greenhouses like this one,
producing straight cucumbers,

317
00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:59,000
are the reason you don't see
crooked ones in the shops.

318
00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:04,280
But how bent is too bent in the
straight-up world of cucumbers?

319
00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:05,760
There's a very simple test.

320
00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:08,560
If you can get your hand
under it, it's too bendy.

321
00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:11,640
Depends how small your hand is. Get
me hand under it. That's too bent.

322
00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:14,640
There's one that's just about OK.

323
00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:18,760
Right, that's marginal,
that's definitely too bent. OK.

324
00:21:18,760 --> 00:21:20,720
But if you...

325
00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:22,000
Taste it.

326
00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:26,920
Tastes exactly the same
as the straight ones.

327
00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:28,880
Only problem with it, it's bent.

328
00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:32,440
It seems crazy
that perfectly good cucumbers

329
00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:35,720
never make it to our sandwiches
just because they're bendy.

330
00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:39,160
So what stops them growing
straight as a die?

331
00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:42,280
One of the things that can
affect it is a pest.

332
00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:44,520
And that's the
kind of thing that can happen.

333
00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:46,760
So one bite
leads to a wonky cucumber.

334
00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:49,600
In there, there's been some damage,
the cells have died.

335
00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:53,480
That part of the cucumber
has not grown, whereas the rest
has carried on growing.

336
00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:58,680
So a little critter has bitten
into this and caused it to bend.
Can we find the culprit?

337
00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:04,520
I don't think you'll find the culprit
because we do everything we possibly
can to make sure they are not here.

338
00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:11,480
We employ an army
of thousands and thousands of
good bugs to eat the bad bugs.

339
00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:15,800
This is one of the good bugs.

340
00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:22,360
Amblyseius swirskii devours
the bad bugs by piercing their skin
and sucking out their innards.

341
00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:27,440
Harsh, I know, but it's exactly what
the bad bugs do to these cucumbers.

342
00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:31,480
It's like having a little squad
of assassins that go out

343
00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:33,080
and clear up all your pests.

344
00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:38,000
Rob and his squad of good bugs
do a great job.

345
00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:39,600
Right, all aboard.

346
00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:44,480
But hungry bugs aren't
the only things that can send
a cucumber round the bend.

347
00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:48,080
Rob's cucumbers
need to be positioned perfectly.

348
00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:51,840
If something gets in the way of
the growing cucumber it'll go bendy,

349
00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:53,880
and here's one, its just got caught,

350
00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:58,440
on the stem below. How
bad does the bending problem become?

351
00:22:58,440 --> 00:22:59,920
We don't let it become a problem.

352
00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:03,120
What we do here,
the plant is trained, in a V.

353
00:23:03,120 --> 00:23:08,480
All the plants are in the middle,
so the idea is the cucumbers
hang down vertically unobstructed.

354
00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:10,400
If the vine is hanging like that...

355
00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:12,080
The cucumbers will drop down here.

356
00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:15,520
But if it's like that, the cucumbers
will hang in-between the leaves.

357
00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:20,320
So it's all about the angle of
your dangle? The angle of dangle
is very important for cucumbers.

358
00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:28,640
Rob reckons that only
four cucumbers in 100
are rejected by the supermarkets.

359
00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:34,160
But he can encourage his
cucumbers to be less straight-laced
by growing them in a special mould.

360
00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:37,600
Slice straight through?

361
00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:40,560
Look at that!

362
00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:47,200
Brilliant for sandwiches
on Valentine's Day. Look at that.

363
00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:48,800
That's absolutely perfect.

364
00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:52,440
There you are, Rob,
I give you my heart.

365
00:23:53,120 --> 00:23:55,080
You didn't have to eat it!

366
00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:06,760
Back at the barn,
I'm making low fat mayonnaise.

367
00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:13,680
I've replaced most of the
fattening oil with water but,
no surprise, it's a bit runny.

368
00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:16,480
In the factory they thicken
it with slimy xanthan gum.

369
00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:20,920
Hopefully that's what's growing
in my home-made bio-reactor.

370
00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:27,160
Right, it's been a couple of days
since I left my bioreactor
to do its thing. Let's have a look.

371
00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:29,400
Ooh, it's a bit different.

372
00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:33,320
It's looking a bit like
chicken stock.

373
00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:37,280
Oh, hang on. There's something in
here that shouldn't be in here.

374
00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:42,840
There's a fly in my soup.

375
00:24:44,120 --> 00:24:48,080
If a fly can get in,
then so can all sorts of nasties.

376
00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:51,760
It seems my xanthan bacteria
have been killed off.

377
00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:53,360
There's no slime here at all.

378
00:24:53,360 --> 00:24:56,200
It's all down to you, little fly.

379
00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:57,880
That's two days wasted.

380
00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:01,320
Right, time for a good clean down.

381
00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:09,840
Time for Plan B.

382
00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:13,920
I've bought some xantham gum
from a professional food supplier.

383
00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:18,360
But on its own it's not enough
to make low fat taste full fat.

384
00:25:18,360 --> 00:25:22,720
For that you need another
intriguing ingredient.

385
00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:26,760
It's called citrus fibre, and
it's made from the pulp of oranges.

386
00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:28,960
It feels a bit like melted fudge

387
00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:31,760
and it's
really good at absorbing water

388
00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:33,600
and it's used as a thickener.

389
00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:35,720
And when it's used as an ingredient

390
00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:38,120
it sort of feels like
fat in your mouth

391
00:25:38,120 --> 00:25:41,040
and that's why food factories
absolutely love this stuff.

392
00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:43,960
Right, let's pop it in here.

393
00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:45,400
A bit of water...

394
00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:48,160
A little bit of Brenda the blender.

395
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:50,040
# Brenda, my love,

396
00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:51,280
# I keep on telling you

397
00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:54,320
# Brenda, my love

398
00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:57,040
# Brenda, my love. #

399
00:25:57,040 --> 00:26:01,800
Now you wouldn't believe
that this has come from oranges that
have just been mixed with water.

400
00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:03,240
Look how thick it is!

401
00:26:04,360 --> 00:26:09,160
And in this bucket
I've another food thickener, starch.

402
00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:15,240
It looks more like I'm going
to be doing some decorating than
making mayonnaise, look at it.

403
00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:22,480
My challenge
is to turn these buckets of yucky
ingredients into luxurious mayo.

404
00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:25,400
This time, the low fat kind.

405
00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:29,600
First in, my xanthan gum,

406
00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:31,880
then it's in with my starch.

407
00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:32,920
It's like a big blob.

408
00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:37,400
Last of the bucket ingredients
is the citrus fibre.

409
00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:43,120
Right, well it's definitely
beginning to look like mayonnaise,

410
00:26:43,120 --> 00:26:46,720
but it's missing
all the normal ingredients.

411
00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:52,120
A tiny amount of oil, in that goes.

412
00:26:52,120 --> 00:26:54,680
Next on the list, eggs...

413
00:26:56,280 --> 00:26:59,160
..mustard, vinegar, and water.

414
00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:04,600
Here we go, that's the
most mayonnaise I've ever seen, ho!

415
00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:06,040
Look at that!

416
00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:12,520
Well, it's certainly got
the colour of the mayonnaise,
it's a little but thin.

417
00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:13,600
Let's have a taste.

418
00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:22,240
Now vinegar comes through
and at first you think,

419
00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:24,160
oh, that tastes like mayonnaise.

420
00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:27,600
And then some of the
other ingredients come through
and then you think,

421
00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:30,640
it's got a funny
sort of earthy taste to it.

422
00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:37,920
But you could just
about get away with calling that
low fat mayonnaise.

423
00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:45,040
There we go.
My very own extra light mayonnaise.

424
00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:52,960
It looks the part but what
will they think down on my farm?

425
00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:56,280
Don't know whether it's the lettuce
or the mayo but it's a bit bitter.

426
00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:58,320
It is quite vinegary.
But it is nice.

427
00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:00,880
It's a bit like salad cream.

428
00:28:02,120 --> 00:28:05,040
So out of ten
what would you give me?

429
00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:09,000
Five. Seven. I'll have it back!

430
00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:10,880
Seven. Seven, that's not bad.

431
00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:13,720
I don't like mayo!

432
00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:15,920
What are you eating that for?
You told me I had to!

433
00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:21,440
Fake fats take the calories
out of mayo

434
00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:24,600
and the difference between a
cake and a biscuit is water.

435
00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:29,120
It seems to me our packed lunches
are packed with secrets.

436
00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:50,600
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

437
00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:53,680
E-mail: subtitling@bbc.co.uk