Kate Quilton looks into Britain's plastic crisis while Jimmy Doherty and Matt Tebbutt visit South Africa on a piquanté pepper hunt.

Could a threat to British juniper berries spell the end of the gin resurgence? Plus: Kate checks out macadamia nuts in Hawaii and Matt finds out what's so bad about his double dipping habit.

In China, Matt Tebbutt helps to cultivate pearls from surprising creatures. And why does sliced ham sometimes have a weird rainbow pattern on it?

Kate meets a tech start-up who hope to feed the world by growing fish flesh in a dish. Plus: how do you make ice cubes that aren't cloudy? And why can't you put papaya in jelly?

How come some bread breaks up when it's buttered but other bread doesn't? And since the sugar tax came in, manufacturers have been adding less sugar to some products. But what are they adding instead?

Can coffee help you sober up? Kate investigates trendy drink kombucha and meets people who are turning it into clothes! And which cut of beef do thin-cut steaks come from?