Jimmy Doherty investigates the contents of our shopping trolley in an innovative new series that looks at the science behind making mass-produced food.

Jimmy started his own farm to learn more about how his food is produced. But he can’t grow everything he eats, so now he’s wondering what goes into making all the other food we buy from the supermarket.

Jimmy’s mission takes him to the country’s leading food manufacturers to unravel the scientific secrets behind removing bugs from bagged salad, keeping frozen ice cream soft and making cans that keep beans fresh for years.

Armed with all the tricks and techniques learned from the big boys, Jimmy decamps to a Suffolk barn to set up his own food factory, complete with a prototype supermarket food production line. Can he build a machine to flash freeze peas faster than the factory-standard 16 minutes? Will making bread in a dustbin really keep it soft for a week? Does tumbling pork in a cement mixer really produce square sandwich ham?

Jimmy’s Food Factory is full of unlikely surprises about the science of making mass-produced food. Viewers will never look at the supermarket shelves in the same way again.