Season 19 2020

TV-G

The Dutch love Spain, and in Spain they love paella. To bring the taste of Spain into your home in the Netherlands, we like to eat this Spanish classic. But what do we actually eat, is that paella? According to the Spaniards, the secret of paella lies in the right rice, but whether that is the rice we buy in the Netherlands is the secret of the supermarket.

Adam and Eve already did it, sleeping in nature. It is the newest solution for every sleeping problem according to the bed industry. But how do you imagine yourself in nature, in the middle of a Dutch new housing estate? By sleeping on a "natural mattress". The Keuringsdienst finds out how natural that natural sleeping is and what price tag is attached to it. Because nature is expensive, it turns out in the bed shop.

Coffee with regular milk is outdated. Nowadays you buy special frothing milk for the best cappuccino or latte. But why is this so much better than regular old fashioned milk from the fresh sector? In any case, it is more expensive. Does the foam really last longer, or is that claim whipped up a bit?

If you want to know how your meat lived before it landed on your plate, there is a quality mark for this: Better Life of the Animal Protection. Then there are also quality marks such as Planetproof and Organic, but that is not enough for Mora. They have developed their own quality mark: Better Welfare. The meat in these snacks comes from animals that have lived in considerably better conditions than European law prescribes. But what does that mean? And why does Mora need its own quality mark? The Keuringsdienst van Waarde takes a closer look at Beter Welzijn.

The Keuringsdienst comes across a jewel in the pastry display case. The macaron conquers our hearts and our wallet. But what is this unique type of cookie? Why do we pay so much more for a macaron than for any other cookie? We want to be able to handle the high price of the macaron. The treasure map sends us to the city of love, where the Keuringsdienst will not just take something for granted.

Cut pork into strips, add some spices and voìla, you have döner, shawarma or gyros. We find dozens of different packaging in the supermarket. But there is something strange about it, because is döner or shawarma made from pork? And to make it even weirder: the ingredients don't differ much, but the prices vary incredibly. The Inspection Service will investigate.

Bread, there is something in it! But what exactly? The Keuringsdienst is going to bake a loaf of bread and wants to know which ingredients are needed for this. The bread packaging teaches us flour and yeast and we also have to look for substances such as emulsifiers, potato flakes and amylase. The question arises what those ingredients are and what they do in the bread. We bake with Yvette van Boven and visit a miller and a baker for an answer.

The choice is huge if you are in front of the breakfast shelf, but what should you choose? The Keuringsdienst wants to know the difference between muesli, crunchy muesli, cruesli and granola. Only the difference in price is clear; you pay by far the most for granola. What's up with that? We ask a dietitian, who tells us what it is all about. The Keuringsdienst gets a piece of the pie.

In organic livestock farming it is important that the animal can show its natural behavior. But what about organic fish farming? The wild salmon is a predator that swims thousands of miles, so can its caged organic species? Do we actually know what makes a salmon happy? The Inspection Service takes a dive into the world of organic fish.

It is delicious in peanut butter, pancake, ice cream, pudding or chips: protein. A miracle product that is being added to more and more products. It's good for the muscles, the label will makes us believe. Eat a bag of chips to recover after exercise. The Inspection Service makes an effort and searches for protein in the supermarket, sees how protein is extracted from the common chickpea and makes a protein bomb that will impress you.

After the episode about canned tomatoes was broadcasted, the Inspection Service received many reactions. Chamber questions were also asked. Because how is it that exploitation exists in tomato cultivation in Europe, and that these cans are simply available in the supermarket? You can actually tell from which farmer the tomatoes in your tin come. And what about the other vegetables. Reason enough for us to conduct further research into fruit and vegetable cultivation in Europe in a diptych.

In the second part of our exciting series, Ersin discovers suspicious crates of oranges in the packing station of a cooperative claiming to be Mafia-free, speaking to workers in Spain and confronting the joint supermarkets with our findings. They have signed a covenant in which they promise to take responsibility and to tackle abuses. However, it is not clear how they will do this.

Any measures to curb the coronavirus also have unintended major consequences. Since cafes and restaurants are closed, many farmers are left with their fruit and vegetables. We speak with a farmer who is left with a million kilos of French fries. He can't lose them anymore. At the same time, there are major shortages in healthcare. There is a great demand for mouth masks and disinfectants. The Inspection Service comes to the rescue and makes disinfectant from the farmer's potatoes for distribution to aid workers. It is easier said than done, but fortunately there are enough people ready to help us with this.