If you’re a light or moderate drinker, the World Health Organization wants you to know that no level of alcohol is safe for your health.

But just how big is that risk and might it be one you’re willing to take? And what happened to the idea that a glass of red wine might be good for you?

In this programme Ruth Alexander finds out about the studies the guidance has been based on, and the statistical risk of dying from alcohol-related disease.

Dr Tim Stockwell, Scientist at the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, is the author of a meta-analysis of 107 studies that look at the links between ill health and alcohol. Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter is Emeritus Professor of Statistics at the University of Cambridge in the UK, he explains how we can make sense of risk as individuals.

And Anna Tait in the UK, Amelie Hauenstein in Germany, David Matayabas in the US and Bill Quinn in Australia talk about how much alcohol they drink, and what moderation looks like to them.

Presented by Ruth Alexander.

Produced by Beatrice Pickup.

(image: four hands raising pints of beer in a ‘cheers’ gesture. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Is it worth taking collagen? With cosmetic companies and A-listers claiming it can slow the effects of ageing, the market for collagen supplements is booming. How sure is the science though?

Ruth Alexander speaks to experts about what we do and don’t know about what these powders, gels and capsules are doing inside our bodies.

She hears from a personal trainer and runner in her 50s about why she takes it daily, and speaks to the CEO of a company selling collagen products in this increasingly competitive market.

New avenues of research are opening up as well, with sports scientists investigating whether an increase in collagen production can help athletes recover from injury more quickly.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Ruth Alexander

Producer: Hannah Bewley

(Image: A serving of supplement powder. Credit: Getty Images)

What’s it like spending 24 hours a day together? Ruth Alexander speaks to couples who run restaurants. She hears how they met, what they argue about and why being a couple might be good for business.

Ruth visits Andrea Follador and Jazz Navin at ‘The Perfect Match’ restaurant in Sale, in the North West of England. Jazz is the chef and Andrea is the sommelier, the two met working at Gordan Ramsay’s ‘The Savoy Grill’ in London. Ruth speaks to Francisco Araya and Fernanda Guerrero, chefs who have lived and worked together in their native Chile, China, and now Singapore where they run fine dining ‘Araya’ restaurant. Rita Sodi and wife Jody Williams ran a restaurant each, and then decided to open one together, 'Via Carota' in New York, United States. Today they run five bars and restaurants together in the city.

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: Andrea Follador and Jazz Navin who run ‘The Perfect Match’ restaurant together in North West England. Credit: BBC)

Today’s seed industry is dominated by a handful of companies. Approximately 60% of the market is controlled by just four companies.

Many of the seeds planted by farmers are controlled by international property rights or patents, that limit how they can be used. Court cases have centred around whether farmers have the right to save and reuse seeds for future harvests.

In this programme we’ll chart the history of the seed industry, from the 19th century, when the United States government sent seeds in the post to farmers for free, to the growth of genetics in the 20th century which set the foundations for today’s market.

Ruth Alexander is joined by Courtney Fullilove, Associate Professor of History at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, United States, and author of ‘Profit of the Earth: the global seeds of American Agriculture'; Frank Terhorst, Head of Strategy and Sustainability in the Crop Sciences Division of Bayer Global, the biggest seed company in the world; Michael Fakhri, the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on the right to food, and Professor at the Oregon University School of Law in the United States; and Dr Tamene Yohannes, from the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute in Ethiopia, which works with community seed banks around the country.

Presented by Ruth Alexander.

Produced by Beatrice Pickup.

(Image: a man holding a pile of seeds in two hands. Credit: Getty/BBC)

Mental health is a hugely complex issue with many causes. There’s no simple answer, then, when it comes to therapies for conditions like anxiety and depression. But a growing body of research is now supporting a connection between nutrition and mental health - that what you eat can have a role to play in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety.

It’s an emerging field, but dietary recommendations for patients are already being made in clinical settings. Jordan Dunbar explores the scientific evidence for this, and what a ‘happier diet’ might look like.

He speaks to Professor Felice Jacka, Director of the Food and Mood Centre at Deakin University in Australia; US psychiatrist Dr Emily Deans; UK-based chef, Daniel Edwards, and nutritionist Dr Nada Benajiba, who’s based in Saudi Arabia.

If you've been affected by the content of this programme, information and support is available via the BBC Action Line. Go to https://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: Woman holding a pot of mixed berries. Credit: Getty/BBC)

Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Meet the flavourists – the people who bring together art and science to create the flavours in our food. Each crisp, soft drink, or toothpaste flavour has been concocted by someone in a lab who has spent years studying why things taste good.

In this programme, Ruth Alexander visits the International Flavour Research Centre at the University of Nottingham in the UK, where flavour chemist Professor Ian Fisk demonstrates machines that can act as an artificial nose and tongue. Historian Dr Nadia Berenstein explains how this profession began and evolved alongside the boom in consumer goods in the 20th century. And we meet a master flavourist at the top of their field – Yukiko Ando Ovesen from Japan, who works for the international flavour and fragrance firm, Firmenich.

Presented by Ruth Alexander

Produced by Beatrice Pickup

(Image: girl eating doughnut with brightly coloured sprinkles. Credit: Getty/BBC)

Food contamination is a serious public health problem around the world. The World Health Organisation estimates that 600 million – almost 1 in 10 people in the world – fall ill after eating contaminated food and 420,000 die every year.

In this episode, Ruth Alexander speaks to some of the people whose lives have been shaped by serious food safety breaches and how they are working to ensure food safety and strengthen our food systems.

She speaks to US food policy campaigner, Darin Detwiler, whose son Riley died following an E. coli outbreak in 1993, food safety consultant Lone Jespersen, and Tina Potter, head of incidents at the Food Standards Agency for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: Scientist inspecting meat sample in laboratory. Credit: Getty/BBC)

Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Climate change means that, in many parts of the world, the way we farm is no longer working.

We need a larger, more diverse range of crops that perform even when the rains don’t come or, as can also be the case, when too much rain comes.

Currently, just 15 crops make up 90% of our energy intake, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization.

In this programme, we’re meeting people who are trying to develop food crops that might thrive in our changing world.

Ruth Alexander visits the Millennium Seed Bank ran by the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew in the UK, where Dr Chris Cockel explains their work collecting and storing seeds from the wild relatives of our staple crops. Tessa Peters, Director of Crop Stewardship at The Land Institute in Kansas, US, makes the case for creating perennial versions of our crops, in order to preserve soil health. And Dr Rebbie Harawa, regional director, Eastern and Southern Africa at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid-Tropics talks about why a currently underutilised crop – millet – could be help struggling farmers in dry areas. Picture: Close up of millet growing in a field; Credit: BBC/Getty

Running a restaurant is hard enough, but what if there’s family involved? In this episode, Felicity Hannah explores the highs and the lows of family-run eateries; their history, food culture, family dynamics and how they deal with the cut and thrust of business.

She heads to Liverpool in the UK, to Europe’s oldest Chinatown, where she meets Terry and Theresa Lim, the owners of the city’s oldest Chinese restaurant. And she pays a visit to a local Italian establishment, to meet brother and sister Paolo and Maria Cillo who, with their other siblings and extended family, are building a burgeoning family food empire in the city.

It’s an interesting time for these two restaurants. Italian and Chinese are two of the most exported cuisines in the world, but with growing competition from other popular food cultures, as well as global economic challenges, how are they adapting to changing times?

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: Paolo and Maria Cillo, and Terry and Theresa Lim with their daughter and two grandchildren. Credit: BBC)

Vegetable oil is one of many foods that has seen big price rises in the last year.

Not only is it used for cooking and frying, but it’s also in many processed foods such as ready meals, sauces and even desserts.

Ukraine and Russia represent the majority of the world’s sunflower oil production, whilst unpredictable weather, poor harvests and lack of labour have led to higher prices in palm, soybean and rape seed oil at the same time.

In this programme we hear from food businesses struggling with the price of oil, starting with street food traders in Delhi, India. Felicity Hannah is joined by Kathryn Robinson, Head of Development at FBDC, a UK based company that helps food businesses reformulate their recipes; David Laborde, a French analyst at the International Food Policy Research Institute based in Washington DC, and David Wagner, Executive Chef at the City Line Bar and Grill Restaurant in Albany, New York.

Presented by Felicity Hannah.

Produced by Beatrice Pickup.

Additional reporting by Anish Ahluwalia.

(Image: chips cooking in oil in a deep fat fryer. Credit: Getty)

Water shortages are getting worse with climate change. In the Horn of Africa, long periods without a rainy season have created a dire situation. The World Food Programme says up to 20 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia could be pushed into hunger by the end of the year. Somalia, which has already witnessed decades of conflict, extreme weather and disease outbreaks, is being particularly hard-hit.

Experts believe droughts will become more frequent, longer and more intense, so what can be done to reduce their impact and the damage they inflict? Could there be a global solution to this global problem?

Ruth Alexander speaks to Michael Dunford, the United Nations World Food Programme’s regional director for East Africa; Dr Balgis Osman-Elasha, a climate change and green growth expert and regional co-ordinator for the African Development Bank, in Tunisia; and emeritus professor at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, Donald Wilhite, who founded the National Drought Mitigation Center in the United States.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: A woman standing next to her water containers and bottles of water. Credit: Getty/BBC)

Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Meet the artists tasked with creating pictures that look good enough to eat.

If it wasn’t for them, you might not have bought that particular tin of tomatoes or that bottle of wine.

Enya Todd, a Chinese illustrator living in the UK, and Rocío Egío, a Spanish illustrator living in Switzerland tell Ruth Alexander how they translate a love of food into irresistible images on a page; while award-winning British botanical illustrator Bridget Gillespie reveals the ups and downs of capturing every exact detail of a fruit or vegetable. Just don’t ask her to paint you a strawberry.

Presented by Ruth Alexander Produced by Beatrice Pickup

(Picture: an illustration of a dish of paella on a tablecloth, designed by contributor Rocío Egío. Credit: Paella by Rocío Egío)

Good quality nutrition is key to sporting success. But while plenty of research exists on the impact of nutrition on performance, most of it has been done on male athletes. That’s despite female athletes now making up nearly 50% of participants in professional sport.

In the case of female footballers, research shows they could be consuming only half the carbohydrates they need. Not eating enough – or under-fuelling – as it’s known in footballing circles – is thought to be endemic in the women’s game. Experts believe much of that is down to a lack of available information.

As the Women's Euros 2022 tournament raises the profile of women's football around the world, Ruth Alexander explores what it takes to fuel a female footballer and how focusing on the particular nutritional needs of sportswomen could make a huge difference to performance. She speaks to professional footballer, Ode Fulutudilu, a forward for the South Africa women’s national team, Aimee O’Keefe, performance nutritionist at Manchester United Women, Dr José Areta, lecturer in sports nutrition at Liverpool John Moore’s University in the UK, and Abbie Smith-Ryan, exercise physiologist and sports nutrition researcher at the University of North Carolina in the US.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: Two women playing football in an arena. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

The deadline for nominations for the award referenced at the end of this podcast has been extended to 23:00 GMT on Thursday 18th August 2022. *Page updated 28 July 2022 due to entry window extension.

In a world where ingredients cost more due to war and inflation how is easy is it to make and sell our daily bread?

Ruth Alexander speaks to three bakers about how they started in the industry, the highs and lows and economic pressures in their part of the world.

Alex Oke is the owner of XO Boutique Bakery in Lagos, Nigeria, Tracey Muzzolini is the owner of Christies Mayfair Bakery in Saskatoon, Canada and Samer Chamoun is the owner of The Lebanese Bakery, a chain of 12 branches including Beirut, Cairo and London.

Presented by Ruth Alexander.

Produced by Rumella Dasgupta.

(Image: Alex Oke holding a loaf of Nigerian agege bread and Tracey Muzzolini holding a loaf of sourdough bread. Credit: Donna Martins/Chelsea Walton/BBC)

Biofuels are a way to make our cars, lorries and even planes run on renewable fuel. They’re often made from food crops.

Globally 7% of cereal crops and 15% of vegetable oil crops are used to make biofuel – according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

As pressure on food prices and supply chains increase, some people are questioning why we turn food into fuel.

In this programme we’ll be looking at the history of biofuels, why food crops have been used, and what alternatives may exist. Joining us are Daniel Kammen, Professor of Energy at University of California, Berkeley, who is currently serving as a senior advisor for energy and innovation in the Biden administration in the United States; Bernardo Gradin, the founder and CEO of Gran Bio, a company that produces biofuel made from sugar cane waste in Brazil; and Sailaja Nori, Chief Scientific Officer at Sea6 Energy, a company investigating the possibilities of biofuel made from seaweed in India and Indonesia.

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.

Additional reporting by Ashish Shama.

The deadline for nominations for the award referenced at the end of this podcast has been extended to 23:00 GMT on Thursday 18th August 2022. *Page updated 28 July 2022 due to entry window extension.

(Image: Field of rapeseed crops behind picture of fuel nozzle. Rapeseed image credit: BBC. Fuel nozzle credit: Matthew Fearn/PA)

From tackling poverty and hunger, to maggot farming, to harnessing the power of seaweed - since 2017, The Food Chain has been celebrating and rewarding innovation in food. This year, as part of the BBC Food and Farming Awards, we're looking for a new champion who is trying to change the way we deal with our food.

With the launch of our 2022 award, Ruth Alexander catches up with two previous winners, school meals project the Akshaya Patra Foundation, and Gabriella D’Cruz, marine conservationist, to find out how their work has progressed and how they are navigating huge global challenges like climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic and rising food prices.

Do you know a remarkable person aged 18-30 who’s challenging the way we think about food? Nominate them for our Global Youth Champion Award 2022.

Find out more and read our terms and privacy notice here: bbc.com/foodchain

The deadline for nominations has been extended to 23:00 GMT on Thursday, 18th August 2022. *Page updated 28 July 2022 due to entry window extension

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Picture: Woman holding a plant growing in soil (Credit: Getty/BBC)

Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

It’s not just fauna and flora, there’s a third, much overlooked kingdom of life – fungi.

Fungi are essential for plant and soil health, and therefore our own survival.

It’s not just the mushrooms that we eat, in this programme we celebrate fungi in all its forms. Fungi already play important roles in our food production and medicine, scientists are now investigating fungi based solutions for environmental pollution and waste disposal.

We’re joined by biologist Merlin Sheldrake in the United Kingdom, author of ‘Entangled Life’, Giuliana Furci, mycologist and founder of the Fungi Foundation, the world’s first non-governmental organisation for the protection of fungi, based in Chile and Danielle Stevenson, a mycologist looking at soil toxicity in the United States.

(Picture: fungi growing on a log. Credit: BBC)

Presented by Ruth Alexander.

Produced by Beatrice Pickup.

The internationally acclaimed poet and playwright Lemn Sissay OBE shares the story of his life by recalling five memorable dishes.

His is an extraordinary story of family, and identity, lost and found.

Born to an Ethiopian mother in the north of England and quickly placed into long-term foster care, Lemn was, for years, deprived of any knowledge of his heritage. His traumatic upbringing and subsequent search for his family and identity have informed much of his award-winning writing.

In this programme, he tells Ruth Alexander about five memorable dishes that act as “positioning points” in his life to date.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: Lemn Sissay holding a cup of coffee. Credit: BBC)

Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Researcher: Siobhan O’Connell

The menopause can cause all sorts of changes in your body – weight gain, hot flushes, sleeplessness and joint pain amongst others. Can what you eat help ease these symptoms?

Officially a woman has reached menopause after 12 months without a period, however the transition itself can take years.

Many women are prescribed hormone replacement therapy to tackle some of these symptoms, but lifestyle changes can also be helpful.

In this programme we’re joined by three women who have experienced menopause and found some benefits in food. Elizabeth Ward is a registered dietitian based in the United States. She co-wrote a book called ‘The Menopause Diet Plan, A Natural Guide to Managing Hormones, Health and Happiness’. Fiona Staunton is a trained chef in Dublin, Ireland, who offers menopause cookery courses called ‘Fiona’s Food For Life’. Sue Mbaya is a Zimbabwean living in Ethiopia, she works in policy and governance, and presents the podcast ‘Pause for Menopause’.

(Picture: woman using hand held fan. Credit: Getty/BBC)

Produced by Beatrice Pickup.

Presented by Ruth Alexander.

Aeroplane food doesn’t have the greatest reputation. Though it might be easy to blame an airline for serving lacklustre meals, the problem is more complex.

Ruth Alexander discovers how the physics of flying wreaks havoc on our senses, the extraordinary lengths airlines have gone to try to dress up their food offering, and what it’s like to be the one serving you at your seat.

And, she asks, will it ever be possible for all passengers to enjoy a tasty and nourishing meal in the air?

Culinary historian, Richard Foss, chef-patron of Kitchen Theory, Jozef Youssef, and flight attendant, Kaylie Kay, join her for the ride.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: Child wearing headphones, eating food on board a plane. Credit: Getty/BBC)

Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Many chefs reach global status, with international demand for their latest book. Spare a thought for the translators, tasked with making their recipes accessible across barriers of language, culture and cuisine.

Translating a recipe isn’t as simple as getting the dictionary out, you need to understand the different terminology and ingredients used in each country, whilst staying true to the original dish.

We speak to Rosa Llopis, a Spanish translator who specialises in gastronomy and has translated a number of cookbooks. Cristina Cigognini is an Italian translator who usually specialises in literary translation of novels, but brought her skills to two cook books published by the chef Yotam Ottolenghi. Nawal Nasrallah is an Iraqi living in the US who translates medieval Arabic food texts, bringing those historic recipes to new audiences.

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.

As Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II marks 70 years on the throne, we find out how you get a royal warrant.

It’s an official seal of approval granted to the suppliers of goods and services to the Royal household.

In London we visit one of Britain’s oldest cheese shops, Paxton & Whitfield, established in 1797. Managing director James Rutter tells us about the royal warrants the business has held since Queen Victoria was on the throne. We also visit Windsor, home to Windsor Castle one of the Queen’s many properties and Windsor & Eton brewery, which was awarded a royal warrant in 2018. Owner Will Calvert tells us what it takes to get this royal recognition.

Royal Warrant holders can’t tell you much about what the royal household buys or likes, we try to fill in the gaps with royal and social historian Caroline Aston, features writer for Majesty Magazine.

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.

What do writers eat to stoke their creative fires?

George Orwell is said to have had a penchant for plum pudding, while Agatha Christie was partial to sipping cream while at the typewriter.

Food is fuel for an author but also serves as inspiration; often finding its way on to the page.

In this episode of The Food Chain, Ruth Alexander speaks to novelists Avni Doshi and Abi Dare about their relationship with food and drink and how that influences their writing.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: Image of an apple and two bananas on a laptop screen. Credit: Getty/BBC)

Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Thinking about how food passes through your body may not be something that crosses your mind, but for people who have had stoma surgery, they’re aware of it at every meal. Tamasin Ford explores what it’s like to live with a stoma bag and how it redefines your relationship with food. We speak to three women who have had lifesaving operations to have a stoma bag fitted. The surgery tends to involve either the small or large intestine, with a stoma creating an opening on the skin of the abdomen to bypass the normal digestion process. Instead digested content is diverted to a pouch, worn on the outside of your body. We find out how they learned to eat again after having surgery, what they're doing to fight the stigma around stomas, and how they’re embracing their new lives with stoma bags. Joining us are Aisha Islam in Saudi Arabia, Alisa Kuivasto in Finland and Gill Castle in the United Kingdom. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: Woman with stoma bag. Credit: Getty/BBC)

Producer: Sarah Stolarz Presenter: Tamasin Ford

Ruth Alexander speaks to patients about their experiences of weight-loss drugs.

The new class of drugs impact appetite, making you feel full sooner, and slowing the rate at which your stomach empties. Known as GLP-1 medications, studies suggest that patients can lose 10% or even up to 25% of their body weight depending on which drug they use. For many who have struggled with obesity and obesity related disease the drugs have the potential to transform their health.

However some patients have struggled with the side effects of the drugs and the manufacturers’ own studies indicate that if people stopping taking them, much of the weight lost is regained, making them drugs for life for some.

Ruth Alexander speaks to Professor of Cardiometabolic Medicine, Naveed Sattar, at Glasgow University who is Chair of the UK government’s obesity mission. He explains how these drugs work and the potentials costs and savings for the National Health Service, or NHS. Adrienne Bitar, historian at Cornell University in New York, is the author of ‘Diet and the Disease of Civilization’, a study of diet books of the 20th century. She explains the ideas diet culture is built on. And Ruth asks Gary Foster, Chief Scientific Officer at WeightWatchers, what these weight-loss drugs will mean for the multi-billion-dollar diet industry.

Presented by Ruth Alexander.

Produced by Beatrice Pickup.

Image: Michelle Herum in Denmark who currently uses a weight loss drug. Credit: Hanne Juul/BBC)

Wheat is one of the most important grains worldwide: you’ll find it in bread, biscuits, pasta, sauces, sweets and more besides. Indeed, take wheat products off supermarket shelves and they would look rather bare. But recent global events – not least the war in Ukraine - have caused crop prices to soar.

Ruth Alexander charts how a humble grass grown in the Fertile Crescent became a commodity traded worldwide, and she explores whether we have become too reliant on this “mega crop” for our food supplies – and what alternatives there might be. She talks to Cathy Zabinski, professor of plant and soil ecology at Montana State University, US; Frank Uekotter, professor of environmental humanities at the University of Birmingham, UK; and Augustine Sensie Bangura, CEO of Sierra Agri Foods, Sierra Leone.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: An ear of wheat blowing in the wind. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Hot sauce can inspire fervent passion in its devotees. It’s a global obsession that translates to billions of dollars of sales a year. But with so many on the market, how do you create a taste that becomes a global hit? In this programme, Ruth Alexander explores the origin stories of two iconic brands – Sriracha and Lao Gan Ma. How did these sauces - born in humble circumstances in Vietnam and China in the 1980s - come to sit on dining tables around the world today? We explore their extraordinary stories and ask what their popularity tell us about changing global tastes.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk 

(Picture: Large red chilli. Credit: Getty/BBC)

Producer: Sarah Stolarz

Contributors

Stephanie Li, blogger and YouTuber at ‘Chinese Cooking Demystified’

Andrea Nguyen, cookbook author and publisher of Vietworldkitchen.com

The man with carefully sculpted six-pack is everywhere: in Hollywood action films, on magazine front covers, in your social media feed, on dating apps. And so are the online ads telling you how to get the look. But what does it really take to get a washboard stomach? This week, Ruth Alexander hears from three men about the reality of getting ‘ripped’ and how much of it is down to what you eat. They reveal how deeply the experience can affect your relationship with food, your loved ones and yourself

(Picture: Male torso ripped in half. Credit: Getty/BBC)

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Producer: Sarah Stolarz

Contributors:

Graham Isador, writer

Florian Gaffet, massage therapist

Matthew Todd, author ‘Straight Jacket: Overcoming Society’s Legacy of Gay Shame’

Can the love of eating meat ever get in the way of a relationship?

You may have heard the phrase ‘the way to someone’s heart is through their stomach’, but what happens if the foods they eat are wildly different from yours?

Tamasin Ford explores what it’s like to date a carnivore. Not just someone who eats meat, but someone who loves meat. Someone who has been brought up to eat meat in every meal.

We speak to two couples whose diets can sometimes be the source of their most heated arguments to find out how they navigate meal times and social events. Can tolerance win out over frustration?

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: Steak on a plate. Credit: Getty/BBC)

Producer: Sarah Stolarz

Contributors:

Barbara Friend

Molly Savard

Charlie Pears-Wallace

Joe Deeney

Wine producers say a warming planet can be detected in the glass.

The owners of long-established vineyards are having to adapt their methods to preserve the taste of their wines, but experts say change is inevitable and already tangible.

Ruth Alexander finds out how climate change is challenging some of the world’s most famous wine regions, while providing opportunities for new producers emerging in the most unlikely places.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: woman holding a glass of wine. Credit: Getty/BBC)

Contributors:

Sally Evans, Chateau George 7, Bordeaux, France

Dr Greg Jones, wine climatologist and CEO of Abacela vineyards and winery in Oregon, United States

Bjorn Bergum, Slinde Vineyard, Sognefjord, Norway

As food prices are rising around the world, along with the cost of energy, even people living in some of the world’s wealthiest countries are struggling to manage.

In this episode, three UK citizens discuss how difficult it can be to feed a family on a low income.

Single parents Sue and Dominic tell of how they have had to skips meals themselves to ensure their children are fed, and how food insecurity has at times left them with feelings of shame.

And Kayleigh Maughan, the founder of the charity End Holiday Hunger, explains how the donations she relies on to make up the food parcels she sends to families in need are dwindling as supermarkets and households feel the pressure of the rising cost of living.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: hand holding a shopping basket. Credit: Getty/BBC)

Contributors:

Sue Stalker

Dominic Watters

Kayleigh Maughan

Imagine a world where going out for dinner virtually - from the comfort of your own sofa - becomes the norm. Whether it sounds appealing or dystopian - there are restaurants, chefs and gamers already out there experimenting with food in virtual worlds.

Tamasin Ford speaks to the developer of a ‘foodverse’ that will feature everything from virtual dining and cookbook signing experiences to food-based virtual games and we hear from a large US restaurant chain on why they are playing with their customers in the metaverse. But what does a future of virtual worlds mean for the food industry? Will it be a niche pursuit or an invaluable tool? And could it threaten the existence of restaurants in the real world?

(Picture: person wearing VR headset. Credit: Getty/BBC)

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Contributors:

Supreet Raju: Co-Founder of OneRare Tressie Lieberman: Vice President of Digital Marketing at Chipotle Michelle Evans: Global Lead of Retail and Digital Consumer Insights at Euromonitor International.

Chef Olia Hercules invites us into her London home to reflect on her country’s rich culinary heritage and the power of food in even the darkest of times.

She opens her well-stocked kitchen cupboards and fridge to reveal the varied flavours, colours and scents of a cuisine she says is often wrongly dismissed as being ‘beige’ or boring.

Ruth Alexander joins Olia and her Russian friend and fellow food writer, Alissa Timoshkina, to discuss the close ties between their nation’s traditional dishes, and the importance of the two women’s own personal friendship.

The conversation was recorded on Tuesday 8 March; 12 days into the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: Olia Hercules and Alissa Timoshkina. Credit: BBC)

Producer:

Sarah Stolarz

Slipping drugs or extra alcohol into someone’s drink is a crime, but one that is under-reported and little understood.

It’s often thought to take place in bars and nightclubs, but as Ruth Alexander discovers from people who’ve been targeted, it can happen to anyone, at any time.

Campaigners explain why myths and misconceptions around drink spiking persist, and we ask what could be done to move the crime out of the shadows and into the open.

(Picture: hand holding glass of water. Credit: Getty/BBC)

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Contributors:

Clara George, Miss United Kingdom, and campaigner against drink spiking

Dr Lata Gautam, associate professor in forensic science, Anglia Ruskin University, UK

Dawn Dines, CEO and founder of Stamp Out Spiking

What is a recipe? A simple question... with many answers. It could be a set of instructions on how to make a dish – but also so much more. Recipes can reveal how we lived in the past, and how we are living today. They are part of our sense of identity, belonging and loss and they are portals we can use to travel to different cultures.

This week, Ruth Alexander speaks to three recipe collectors in India, Ghana and the USA to find out why they are preserving their nation’s recipes. What can you learn by documenting these culinary guides? How do you even capture a recipe that has never been written down? And what is at stake if they are lost?

(Picture: Cookbook with utensils. Credit: Getty/BBC)

If you would like to get in touch with the show please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Contributors:

Abena Offeh-Gyimah, writer and food entrepreneur, Ghana

Megan Elias, cultural historian and director of the Gastronomy programme at University of Boston, USA

Muskaan Pal, co-founder, Indian Community Cookbook Project at Flame University in Pune, India

Devina Gupta takes a food tour of her home city of Delhi to see how people are adapting to rising summer temperatures.

In May this year the city saw a record temperature of almost 50C, and knowing what to eat in such heat can be a challenge.

The changing climate is sparking innovative recipes in restaurant kitchens and bringing traditional practices back to people’s kitchens.

Devina tries old favourites at street markets, a modern twist on a classic drink at a high end restaurant and is (almost) convinced that a vegetable she has hated since childhood might work wonders in the heat.

She hears from public health expert Dr Samar Husayn about why the cold, sweet treats you might reach for on a hot day aren’t always the best.

And she sees the difference between how those who have air-conditioned homes and those who don’t are coping.

Presenter: Devina Gupta

Producer: Hannah Bewley

(Image: A bowl of gourd dip with restaurant workers in the heat in the background. Credit: BBC)

Social media is full of fake news about food.

Fad diets, cure-all superfoods, demonised ingredients, made-up health scares – you’re never more than a few clicks away from unreliable nutritional information.

In this episode, Ruth Alexander meets two people trying to take on those who peddle the food myths. What is it like getting into an online food fight; can an individual ever hope to change people’s minds; and why would anyone even try?

(Picture: Hand holding cream pie on man's face. Credit: Getty/BBC) Producer: Sarah Stolarz

Contributors:

Dr Joshua Wolrich, NHS doctor, nutritionist and author

Erin aka Food Science Babe, chemical engineer and food scientist

It’s estimated that as many as 1 in 7 adults are suffering from constipation at any one time. And yet, talking about the problem is taboo.

Ruth Alexander is joined by two experts who want us to be more open about the condition. They say our reluctance to talk about constipation is having an impact on our well-being and creating a costly burden on health services.

Find out why a balanced and varied diet will help many people avoid the problem, but not all; and why prunes – a famous remedy – can actually make it worse.

Plus, a historian traces how we came to be so reticent about our toilet habits; and how constipation may have had a decisive role at numerous turning points in history.

If you would like to get in touch with the show please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: Closed airplane toilet door. Credit: Getty/BBC)

Contributors:

Anton Emmanuel, University College Hospital London and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery

Louise Foxcroft, medical historian and author

Miguel Toribio-Mateas, School of Applied Sciences at London South Bank University.

Imagine being able to ‘taste’ every word that comes out of your mouth. Everything you or someone else says provoking something in your brain to kick your taste buds into action. It sounds incredulous, but for a tiny proportion of the world’s population, that is their reality. It’s a neurological phenomenon called synaesthesia, where two or more senses merge.

Tamasin Ford meets two sisters from Glasgow, Scotland, who have had the condition for as long as they can remember. They share what it’s like to live with this explosion of taste at every waking moment.

But how and why does it happen? We try to unpick the science behind it and take a look at what synaesthesia could tell us about how we experience taste and flavour.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: Keyboard letters in a soup bowl. Credit:Getty/BBC)

Contributors:

Julie McDowall and Jennifer McCready Guy Leschziner, author and Professor of neurology and sleep medicine at King's College London.

Can you imagine suddenly finding that it hurts to eat? Or that when you take a bite of your favourite meal you feel nothing?

In this episode, we’re talking about something that isn’t much talked about: what happens to your relationship with food when you’ve got cancer.

Ruth Alexander is joined by three women who want you to know about a side effect of treatment that they weren’t fully prepared for - the loss of their sense of taste.

They share how what is a relatively minor detail, given a devastating diagnosis, nevertheless had a huge effect on their everyday routine, their interactions with family and friends, their sense of self.

Hear how they learned to cope and how, out of the depths of this distressing experience, came a new appreciation of the everyday.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: Grapefruit with pills coming out of it. Credit: Getty/BBC)

Producer:

Sarah Stolarz

Contributors:

Heather McCollum

Semira Oguntoyinbo

Angharad Underwood

How do you feed a dog? The answer may be more fraught than you had imagined.

Should you give them ‘dog food’? Is it a step too far to feed them at the table? And can man’s best friend thrive on a vegetarian diet?

we bring together three dog-loving experts from the UK, India and the USA to analyse what dog feeding reveals about our relationship with animals and even our own relationship with food.

Be prepared to hear some surprises, some empowering advice and maybe some uncomfortable home truths. And even if you don’t have a dog, you may get some ideas that you can apply to your own life.

If you would like to get in touch with the show please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: dogs licks lips. Credit: Getty/BBC)

Presenter: Ruth Alexander

Producer: Sarah Stolarz

Contributors:

Shirin Merchant, dog trainer and behaviourist in Mumbai, India

Louise Glazebrook, dog trainer and behaviourist in London, UK

Marc Bekoff, professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado Boulder, USA

A lack of sleep might leave us tired, but it can also have a major impact on what we eat, and our health.

Ruth Alexander explores the surprising relationship between diet and a poor night’s rest, and learns that it’s not just what we’re eating, but when: we hear about the perils of consuming calories late into the evening or, even worse, overnight.

But it’s not all bad news: there’s growing research into the idea that we might be able to improve our sleep quality by tweaking our diets.

If you would like to get in touch with the show please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk.

Producer: Simon Tulett

Contributors:

Tania Whalen, fire brigade despatcher, Melbourne, Australia; Matthew Walker, University of California, Berkeley, USA; Maxine Bonham, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia; Marie-Pierre St-Onge, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, USA.

(Picture: A young girl asleep on a plate of spaghetti. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Caffeine is a key ingredient in some of our favourite foods and drinks, but it’s also a mind-altering drug that can be very tricky to quit.

Tamasin Ford meets three people who’ve tried to cut caffeine out of their lives by eliminating some of its main sources from their diets - coffee, tea and chocolate.

We hear about some uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms, social awkwardness, and the struggle to adapt to life without a caffeine high. How long did they stay caffeine-free?

If you would like to get in touch with the show please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk.

Producers: Simon Tulett and Sarah Stolarz

Contributors:

Petteri Rantamäki, business software professional, Helsinki, Finland; Abigail James, aesthetician and author, London, UK; John Horgan, science journalist, New York, USA.

(Picture: A young woman holding a cup of coffee. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

In this final episode of 2021, we're revisiting some of the most powerful food stories from the pandemic. Following widespread restaurant closures and labour shortages across the hospitality sector, we catch up with a New York chef who is forging a new path. And what about those people who thanks to Covid-19 can’t even smell or taste their food anymore? We’ll be finding out whether this leading symptom of the virus is now better understood. Plus, how is one of the world’s newest emojis – the arepa flatbread - faring, one year on?

(Picture: Drawing of sweet being unwrapped. Credit: BBC/Getty)

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Contributors:

Amanda Cohen, Chef and owner, Dirt Candy restaurant New York

Chrissi Kelly, founder, smell and taste loss charity AbScent

Sebastian Delmont, software developer and co-creator of the arepa emoji

World War Two rationing imposed severe restrictions on food, so why would anyone voluntarily go back to it?

Ruth Alexander meets three women who chose to adopt the diet endured in 1940s and 1950s Britain, one of them for an entire year.

We hear how such scarcity inspired creativity, a reverence for the ingenuity of wartime cooks, and an enduring change of perspective on the responsibility of the 21st century food consumer.

If you would like to get in touch with the show please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk.

Producer: Simon Tulett

Contributors:

Karen Burns-Booth, food writer - www.lavenderandlovage.com/category/recipes/general-recipes/wartime-recipes Claud Fullwood, author of The Rations Challenge: Forty Days of Feasting in a Wartime Kitchen Carolyn Ekins, blogger - https://the1940sexperiment.com

(Picture: Basket of food rations on display at the Imperial War Museum, London, in 2011. Credit: Paul Kerley/BBC)

What dish says Christmas to you - roast turkey, goat? Carp perhaps? What about fried chicken?

In Japan nothing says ‘festive family food’ more than a bucket of KFC fried chicken. And if you’re Jewish and from the US, a Christmas meal will almost certainly mean a trip to Chinatown.

Ruth Alexander unearths the origin stories of these two unlikely, but incredibly popular, - alternative Christmas food traditions, and finds out how food can help give you a sense of belonging, even if celebrating Christmas isn’t for you.

(Picture: Bucket of fried chicken and bowl of Chinese food. Credit: Getty/BBC)

If you would like to get in touch with the show please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Contributors:

Nina Li Coomes, writer based in Chicago, USA

Rabbi Joshua Plaut, author ‘A Kosher Christmas: ‘Tis the Season to be Kosher’.

Producers: Sarah Stolarz and Simon Tulett

Ruth Alexander explores the origins and evolution of the humble grab-and-go food the burrito, which started life in northern Mexico, before crossing over into the US and becoming a hit around the world.

Versions of the spicy wrap can be enjoyed in restaurants, street food shacks and supermarket home meal kits all over the world.

We explore the burrito’s contested origins, find out why some Mexican food purists dislike the popular menu item and ask what the future holds for it, and the cuisine more broadly.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: a burrito in a restaurant in Juarez, Mexico. Credit: Vianey Alderete Contreras/BBC)

Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Sam Clack. Additional reporting by Vianey Alderete Contreras in Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, United States.

Catering on film and TV sets is notorious for being one of the toughest jobs in the hospitality industry.

Imagine feeding hundreds of people in a different location every day, running your kitchen in some of the world’s most remote places, and accommodating the varied diets of the planet’s biggest stars.

Tamasin Ford speaks to three caterers to find out what it takes to succeed in Hollywood, Bollywood, and the world of reality TV, and finds out how vital food can be to the success of a shoot.

If you would like to get in touch with the show please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk.

Producer: Simon Tulett

Contributors:

Sid Ghai, director of Ghai Caterers Ltd, London; Antonia Crowley, executive chef and event stylist at Flying Trestles, Auckland; Wayne Brown, co-founder of Red Radish, London.

(Picture: A stack of pizza boxes next to a film director's chair. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Rationing looms large in the memories of a generation who lived through World War Two. Basic groceries were limited and getting enough food on the table became a daily challenge that went on long after the last bombs fell. Ruth Alexander brings together a German and an English woman, who grew up on opposite sides of the world’s deadliest ever conflict, to share their recollections of wartime eating. What was it like struggling to find food, how did they adapt, and how has it changed their approach to food forever?

(Picture: Ingeborg Schreib-Wywiorski and Beryl Kingston, Credit: BBC)

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email thefoodhchain@bbc.co.uk

Contributors: Ingeborg Schreib-Wywiorski and Beryl Kingston.

Presenter: Ruth Alexander

Producer: Sarah Stolarz

Gabriella D’Cruz, from Goa, wants to improve diets, transform livelihoods, and protect the planet using an often-overlooked marine vegetable - seaweed.

Ruth Alexander speaks to the 29-year-old about her big plans for the underwater crop, and her hope that it could bring lasting economic and environmental change to India’s coastal communities.

Gabriella’s passion and her project’s potential saw her chosen by a panel of international judges as the winner of The Food Chain Global Youth Champion Award 2021.

If you would like to get in touch with the show please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk.

Producer: Simon Tulett

Contributors:

Gabriella D'Cruz, founder of The Good Ocean; Ismahane Elouafi, chief scientist at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.

(Picture: Gabriella D'Cruz in the sea holding a basket of seaweed. Credit: Gabriella D'Cruz/BBC)