Main content
Food Confidential
How the food industry keeps its trade secrets.
Trade secrets are jealously guarded by the food industry – and confidentiality is becoming ever more important. The Food Chain is on a mission to find out why. Emily Thomas explores the best way is to protect a secret recipe, and finds out just how hard that is to do when thousands, even millions of people, have tried the dish. Plus, a so-called 'food hacker' recreates one of the world’s most iconic secret recipes, and a nose around a chocolate factory reveals the secrecy behind a good truffle.
This programme was first broadcast on 15 March 2018.
(Picture: Security camera on building, Credit: Getty Images)
Last on
Sun 15 Apr 201807:32GMT
BBC World Service except News Internet
More episodes
Clips
![]()
Secrets and the chocolate factory
Duration: 03:17
![]()
Can you name every bun in a Big Mac?
Duration: 02:25
Broadcasts
- Thu 15 Mar 201800:32GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa, South Asia, West and Central Africa & East Asia only
- Thu 15 Mar 201803:32GMTBBC World Service Online, Americas and the Caribbean, UK DAB/Freeview & Europe and the Middle East only
- Thu 15 Mar 201804:32GMTBBC World Service South Asia & East Asia only
- Thu 15 Mar 201805:32GMTBBC World Service Australasia
- Thu 15 Mar 201811:32GMTBBC World Service except News Internet
- Thu 15 Mar 201821:32GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Thu 15 Mar 201823:32GMTBBC World Service Australasia, Americas and the Caribbean, UK DAB/Freeview, Europe and the Middle East & Online only
- Sun 18 Mar 201808:32GMTBBC World Service except News Internet
- Thu 12 Apr 201802:32GMTBBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean, UK DAB/Freeview, Online, Europe and the Middle East & West and Central Africa only
- Thu 12 Apr 201803:32GMTBBC World Service South Asia & East Asia only
- Thu 12 Apr 201804:32GMTBBC World Service Australasia
- Thu 12 Apr 201810:32GMTBBC World Service except News Internet & West and Central Africa
- Thu 12 Apr 201821:32GMTBBC World Service except News Internet
- Sun 15 Apr 201807:32GMTBBC World Service except News Internet
Podcast
![]()
The Food Chain
Examining what it takes to put food on your plate




