Season 9 - Episode Guide

Jimmy finds out how Kenyan farmers get their green beans so straight. Matt learns about scallop procreation. Kate checks out Cornish pasties and explores swede and turnip confusion.

Jimmy Doherty, Kate Quilton and Matt Tebbutt uncover more unusual, intriguing and surprising secrets behind the food we eat. Kate visits Israel to unearth the mystery ingredient that makes icing sugar so light, fluffy and powdery. Her journey takes her via a dip in the Dead Sea to an enormous phosphate mine in the desert, where all is revealed. In Italy, Jimmy investigates the difference between risotto rice and long grain rice. An early morning trip to a bustling rice auction and a visit to a flooded rice field shed some light. Back in the UK, Jimmy challenges renowned Italian chef Gennaro Contaldo to knock up a risotto using long grain rice; can it be done? And where do pre-packed sandwiches' crusts go? Matt discovers that one sandwich maker has come up with an innovative - and surprising - way of putting the waste bread to good use.

Jimmy Doherty, Kate Quilton and Matt Tebbutt reveal more unusual, intriguing and surprising secrets behind the food we eat. Matt heads to Italy to find out how supermarkets can sell pesto at an affordable price when the traditional ingredients are expensive. He visits one of Europe's biggest pesto producers and takes a remarkable trip to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, where basil is being grown in an extraordinary underwater farm. Jimmy wants to know why so many cockles in our supermarkets come from abroad, when he always thought of them as a quintessentially British staple. He visits Wales and the Wash, where two very different stories unfold, and witnesses a remarkable method of cockle gathering that has to be seen to be believed. And why do marshmallows go so crispy and melty at the same time over the campfire? Kate takes a colourful trip around Europe's largest marshmallow factory to find out.

Jimmy checks out craft beer; could it really make a good sports recovery drink? Kate joins the world's biggest food fight at a Spanish tomato festival. And why are tinned anchovies salty?

Jimmy investigates why British cheese sales are soaring across Europe. Kate wants to know what colour of limes are the juiciest. And Matt checks out Parma ham.

Skyr: it looks like yoghurt and it's creamy like yoghurt, but it's fat-free. So is it yoghurt? Jimmy visits Iceland to find out. Are dried strawberries in cereal real strawberries? Plus: oysters.

In Italy, Jimmy investigates why Parmesan costs so much. Kate visits Hungary and Spain to find out where paprika comes from. And Matt looks at mass-produced boiled eggs.

Jimmy Doherty, Kate Quilton and Matt Tebbutt travel the globe in their quest to uncover more unusual, intriguing and surprising secrets behind the food we eat. Jimmy's off to Israel on the trail of an elusive fruit - the fresh date. If raisins are dried grapes and prunes are dried plums, then what exactly are dates? Jimmy's search for the answer takes him to a vast water purification plant, where they harness the raw sewage of Tel Aviv to turn barren desert into fertile farmland. Kate flies to California to investigate why almond butter is more expensive than other nutty spreads, and discovers a combination of extreme weather and global economics have made the price of almonds go completely nuts. And Matt's in Scotland, investigating haggis. He makes a surprising discovery about the dish's true origins - and then faces the nerve-shredding ordeal of delivering some highly unwelcome news to an unsuspecting audience.

Jimmy Doherty, Kate Quilton and Matt Tebbutt reveal unusual, intriguing and surprising secrets behind the food we eat. Jimmy takes to the skies above Israel to join the battle to protect the bell pepper crop from the Mediterranean fruit fly, but is amazed to learn that it's not insecticide that he's helping to spread across the desert. Can you put dishwasher salt on your chips? Jimmy visits an extraordinary underground salt mine in Sicily, with a vast network of tunnels leading to a subterranean salt processing plant. Kate visits Vietnam to find out if coconut oil is any healthier than other oils. She also heads to the Amazon rainforest to investigate rumours that the Brazil nuts on UK supermarket shelves are all radioactive.

In this Christmas special, Jimmy Doherty, Kate Quilton and Matt Tebbutt explore how the food industry brings the taste of Christmas to our tables. The number one complaint at Christmas is a dried-out turkey, so Matt turns to science for the answer. His experiments include cooking upside down and even strapping ice packs to the bird, but will any of them deliver? Kate gets the tough job of investigating pink champagne. It's becoming a preferred option at Christmas, but what makes it pink? And who knew that the wrong temperature could mean a trip to A&E from an exploding cork? Jimmy also faces explosions, with chestnuts. They should be roasting on an open fire, but how do you stop them going off like bangers?

The team examine recent trends and scientific advances in weight loss. Can eating more fat make us thin? Should we skip breakfast? And drink full-fat milk? Or just get a good night's sleep?