300 episodes

The Food Chain examines the business, science and cultural significance of food, and what it takes to put food on your plate.

The Food Chain BBC World Service

    • Arts
    • 4.7 • 298 Ratings

The Food Chain examines the business, science and cultural significance of food, and what it takes to put food on your plate.

    The real Willy Wonkas

    The real Willy Wonkas

    Step inside the chocolate factory to hear the secrets of what it’s like to invent sweet treats for a living.
    Find out why chocolatiers think the raw material is like a “needy child”, but can also bring great joy to people’s lives.
    And hear the family story of the invention of one of the best-known British chocolate bars, with a trip to an archive of hidden stories from the confectionary industry – and some well-preserved sweets.
    If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk
    Presenter: Ruth Alexander
    Producer: Hannah Bewley
    (Image: Chocolate bars on a colourful background. Credit: Getty)

    • 27 min
    Fasting and feasting

    Fasting and feasting

    Fasting has been a religious and cultural practice for thousands of years, why do people do it? What happens to your body when you fast? The Food Chain speaks to a British family breaking their fast during Ramadan, a woman in India completing a day long fast for Mahashivratri and explores why the practices around Lent have changed over the years. An expert on intermittent fasting talks us through what is happening to our bodies, and why it might have hidden benefits.
    In this programme, Rumella Dasgupta explores the tradition of religious fasting with what to eat and what not to eat in three major faiths.
    If you would like to get in touch with the programme, email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk.
    Presented by Rumella Dasgupta.
    (Image: a family in Manchester breaks their fast together with dishes spread out on a cloth on the floor. Credit: BBC)

    • 32 min
    Why we love dumplings

    Why we love dumplings

    Dumplings feature prominently in cuisines around the world.
    Some, like the Ghanaian kenkey, or the Irish dumpling, are balls of dough. But in many countries they’re filled with other ingredients.
    From the Russian pelmeni, to the Japanese gyoza, for centuries we’ve been putting meat, vegetables or cheese in small pouches of pastry, and making delicious snacks.
    So where did this idea originate? And are all these differently named dumplings connected?
    Ruth Alexander explores the history of this humble comfort food and hears how different dumplings are made.
    If you would like to get in touch with the programme, email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk.
    Presenter: Ruth Alexander.
    Producers: Julia Paul and Rumella Dasgupta
    (Image: Dumplings and bowls of dipping sauce. Credit: BBC)

    • 27 min
    The fifth taste

    The fifth taste

    Sweet, sour, salty, bitter and... umami. Have you heard of the fifth taste?
    Umami, meaning ‘delicious flavour’ in Japanese, was discovered by a chemist in Japan in 1908 but it took nearly 100 years for it to be recognised as a fifth distinct taste. It is described by many as a savoury or meaty taste.
    In this programme Ruth Alexander learns about the chemist who first discovered umami, and the industrially produced version he created – monosodium glutamate, or MSG. It’s a food additive that’s been the subject of health scares, but today it’s one of the most tested additives in our food and considered to be safe for consumption.
    Yukari Sakamoto, trained chef and food tour leader in Tokyo explains how umami features in Japanese cuisine; she says miso soup is one of the best examples of maximum umami flavour. Professor Barry Smith, Director of the Centre for the Study of the Senses in the UK, explains the science behind umami and MSG. Calvin Eng, chef and owner of Bonnie’s restaurant in Brooklyn New York, is one of a number of chefs trying to rehabilitate MSG’s reputation – he uses it not just in savoury dishes, but also desserts and drinks.
    If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk
    Presented by Ruth Alexander.
    Produced by Beatrice Pickup.
    (Image: a bowl of miso soup, containing tofu and spring onions. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

    • 30 min
    The school cooks

    The school cooks

    Three school chefs tell Ruth Alexander what it’s like serving up canteen food every day.
    Find out how they manage hundreds of hungry child customers, what pro tips they have for making vegetables seem delicious, and why they all find the job so satisfying.
    We hear from the USA, Liverpool in the UK and a school chef in the far north of Finland about the challenges of cooking mountains of meatballs, how to cope when the vegetable biriyani goes all over the ceiling, and why it’s one of the most rewarding – but probably overlooked – professions.
    If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk
    Producers: Hannah Bewley and Rumella Dasgupta
    (Image: a plastic lunch tray with meat, vegetables and gravy, fruit and a plastic cup. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

    • 27 min
    Is this ultra processed?

    Is this ultra processed?

    Have you heard of ultra processed food?
    In 2010 a group of Brazilian scientists said we should be focusing less on the nutritional content of food, and more on the form of processing it undergoes. They created the Nova system, a way of categorising foods based on how processed they are. It identifies ultra processed foods as generally industrially manufactured, containing ingredients such as emulsifiers, stabilisers and other additives that would not be found in an average home kitchen.
    A growing body of scientific research suggests a link between this category of ultra processed foods and ill health, although there’s still some uncertainty around why this could be.
    In this programme we look at what ultra processed food is, how you spot it, and how practical it is to avoid it, should you wish to.
    Ruth Alexander speaks to listener Jen Sherman in California who is trying to reduce the amount of ultra processed food her family eats. Ruth also hears from one of the public health scientists behind the Nova classification, Jean-Claude Moubarac at the University of Montreal in Canada, and from Pierre Slamich, co-founder of the Open Food Facts app and website, a database of foods that can help you identify products that are ultra processed. Kate Halliwell, Chief Scientific Officer at the Food and Drink Federation in the UK, which represents manufacturers, says evidence of harm from ultra processed foods is not yet strong enough.
    If you’d like to contact the programme you can email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk.
    Presented by Ruth Alexander.
    Produced by Beatrice Pickup.
    Additional reporting by Jane Chambers in Chile.

    • 33 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
298 Ratings

298 Ratings

freya bubbles ,

Love love love

My new favorite podcast!

midwestBlue ,

who owns the seeds

Excellent podcast. very informative. the bbc is always enlightening me. never go away. thank you!

😉💙🙃 ,

What do astronauts eat? October 19th

They are forced to drink their own purified urine, since they can not travel with massive amounts of weight.

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