Jimmy's Food Factory - 1. Breakfast

In this entertaining new science series, farmer Jimmy Doherty asks: 'what really goes into supermarket food?'

To find out he takes a surprising and novel approach - he sets up his own food factory in a barn. Inside the barn he makes his own versions of supermarket food, knocking together make-shift factory production lines so we can see what they're really doing to our food.

In the first programme Jimmy makes breakfast from scratch. Why is the most nutritious part of the corn removed from cornflakes? Why do some cereal manufacturers add iron and other vitamins? If instant coffee isn't made by grinding up coffee beans, how is it made?

To find out Jimmy uses a floor sander, tumble dryer, laundry mangle and kitchen bins to copy the industrial grinders, dryers, rollers and vats used inside the real factory.

To complete his breakfast menu, Jimmy heads away from the barn to discover that some cows at a farm in Devon are being milked by robots and how a muddy root vegetable is turned into pure white sugar. (R)

Broadcast on:

BBC HD, 4:50pm Saturday 24th October 2009

First broadcast:

Wednesday 21st October 2009

Duration:

30 minutes

Available until:

6:59pm Wednesday 2nd December 2009

Categories:

• Audio Described,
• Sign Zone,
• Factual