(bowl bangs) (egg cracks)
(pan sizzles)
(upbeat music)
- Hello everyone and welcome to Sorted food.
- Today, we're going to be taste testing,
and talking about a bunch of interesting topics,
in the world of food.
- We've got one chef here,
and two very normal normals.
So it's going to get opiniony.
(upbeat music continues)
- Okay, Baz, you are up first.
Lift the cloche, for number one.
- Oh, Magic Spoon.
Grain-free cereal,
in a range of flavors,
peanut butter, frosted,
cocoa, and fruity.
- This is Magic Spoon, adult cereal.
Magic Spoon was started by Greg and Gabby, the co-founders,
who met at college,
and both ate cereal for breakfast, every morning.
According to their backstory and on their website,
they experimented for over a year,
to create cereal, inspired by the flavors and nostalgia,
of Saturday morning cartoon cereal,
but upgraded, for a 21st century customer.
- Complete protein and no gluten or grains.
This box contains more protein than a dozen eggs,
and fewer net carbs than a typical fruit smoothie.
- [Ben] So which flavor you going for?
- Peanut butter sounds the weirdest.
Let's go for that.
(cereal clinking)
- [Mike] Is that about what you'd go for at home?
- I think so. Yeah.
- What's the suggested serving size?
- Serving size is about one cup, 36 grams.
- So interestingly,
all of the nutritional information,
and some of the selling points, from the front,
they kind of go out the window,
if you're not testing this fairly.
- Oh I see what you're doing.
- So we've got some scales there.
We're going to see how a Barry-sized bowl,
actually correlates to the recommending serving suggestion,
on the box.
- There's a set of scales, already tared to the bowl.
- So 75 grams.
- 76.
So 36, twice, you've gone for,
just over two times the portion size.
- Oh-ho-ho.
- That's interesting, isn't it?
- That is a big portion.
But at the same time, I wouldn't struggle to get through it.
- We purchased a variety pack, obviously,
and it comes with a magic spoon, so.
- Oh okay.
(relaxed jazz music)
- Whoa, no sugar?
The reason I poured a big bowl,
because I'm used just eating savory cereals.
For me, this is like, reminds me of eating Snicker bars.
It's that sweet.
So on reflection, I definitely didn't pour too much.
- They use a natural blend of monk fruit,
which we've spoken about before, stevia and allulose.
It tastes like regular sugar,
but has almost zero glycemic impact,
and almost zero calories.
And they claim that there is nothing artificial,
in their cereals.
- It's almost tickly.
Not saying it's unpleasant,
it's really nice,
it's just got this, it's uber sweet.
- All the buzzwords.
High-protein, keto friendly,
gluten-free, grain-free, soy free, wheat free,
naturally flavored.
The only bugbear I have,
is how can it be grain-free cereal?
The very definition of cereal is it is a grain.
- Oh yeah.
Where as cereal, you crunch,
it kind of dissolves, disappears,
this sticks to your teeth a little bit,
more like when you get rice crackers,
like that, - Oh okay.
- Just disappears a little bit.
- I know what you mean about the teeth thing,
but it's essentially whey protein.
That's bound together with oil,
sweetened with natural sweeteners,
and natural flavorings,
and then extruded.
So ultra processed,
but not with the things,
that you'd associate typical childlike cereals to have,
IE, the sugar and the carbs.
- Yeah. Very different spin on processed food.
- Okay, let's talk about price.
How much do you think one of these boxes sells for?
- A posh bag of cereal,
you'd spend three or four pounds on.
So I'd say these are more like five or six.
- They work out about £7.25 per box,
(register chimes) which is $9.99, US.
- Which is very expensive, compared to-
- [Ben] Cereal.
- Cereal.
- It could be seen as expensive,
if you're having it every morning,
having it as a treat or a snack.
- I'm okay with it.
- Well, let's ask you the question,
because everyone's thinking it,
Barry. Is the Magic Spoon, adult cereal,
a spoonful of magic or a bowl full of tragic?
- A spoon full of magic.
(upbeat music)
- Ebbers. You ready?
This one's gonna out of this world.
Lift the cloche. - It doesn't look real.
(they laugh) - It doesn't, does it.
It's a toy.
- It's the classic Neapolitan ice cream,
wedged between two Bourbon biscuits.
- Hm. - But is it?
- [Baz] Have a nibble.
(bar snapping) (Baz chuckling)
- Oh, crunchy.
This is freeze dried ice cream.
- Correct Ben.
- In the sense that,
it reminds me of freeze dried strawberries.
- Does it tastes nice?
- It's very sweet.
It's quite creamy, - Okay.
- But I feel like there's also
an awful lot going on in there,
(bar tapping) probably to keep it as it is.
- Ben, this isn't just freeze dried ice cream.
This is Astronaut freeze dried ice cream,
"Originally developed for space travel,
our creamy, sweet, freeze dried astronaut food.
will give you a taste of outer space, right here on Earth."
(packets clatter)
- [Mike] Surely, is this packed full of nutrition?
I guess, because if astronauts are going to be eating it,
up in space,
it needs to be full of sustenance.
- So again,
this isn't the only thing they're eating out in space,
they had like a full diet, a range of meals.
This just was their special treat.
- I get ya.
So this isn't like a meal replacement-
- Na. - or anything like that.
This is just-
- An ice cream sandwich, with no water in it.
- It's the technology of freeze freeze-drying,
which is far from new.
Applied to a treat,
so that, I guess,
when you're in space,
you don't feel like you're missing out.
- But how does the freeze drying process work?
- So you freeze it, to very low temperatures,
and then you put it under pressure,
to get rid of the water, through sublimation.
- Okay. - Okay.
- But the only thing being removed is water.
- Would you have that, as a snack?
- I don't think I'd want to eat a whole one of those.
Maybe there's a place for it,
but I think more it's for the novelty of museums,
and stuff like that.
And getting kids to fall in love with the idea of space,
which is cool, as a kid.
It's cool as an adult.
- How much do you reckon
a packet of Astronaut ice cream is?
- Given how expensive the process is,
its association to the space program,
like astronaut food, it's novelty, it's cool.
I think you could pay a fiver for that.
- [Baz] You can get them on Amazon,
for £5.30. (register rings)
- It's not something I would ever buy for myself,
but I think it would be a fun thing for kids.
- So Ebbers.
Is this snack out of this world,
or would you rather have a Mars bar?
- It is out of this world.
(dramatic festive music)
(upbeat music)
Number three will be interesting.
One trend,
two cloches.
You've got two choices for breakfast,
which would you like?
No more context than that.
- Peanut butter on toast, for me, all day long.
Whereas I assume this is porridge, with some banana.
- Yep.
- It's very tasty.
But where's the food trend?
- Every day, we all make dozens of decisions, around food,
based on mood and place,
and price, and taste,
and all those things.
But there's some elements we can't necessarily track.
What this product does, is look at nutrition,
a level of processing,
and its impact on the environment,
as ingredients.
The product is a website, and or an app,
called Open Food Facts,
that will enable you to scan products,
- Ooh, okay.
- And it will give you the nutritional Nova,
come back to it in a minute,
and eco-score of products.
- Ooh.
- So this is something that is available US and UK.
It was actually launched in France.
It's also available across Europe.
They say that Open Food Facts,
basically allows you to scan barcodes of food products,
and therefore discover their health,
and environmental impact.
- So you've got a Nova score of four.
- So Nova is a level of processing.
So raw ingredients, like a banana,
that has had no element of processing,
it's a scratch ingredient, is Nova one.
In theory, that's better than Nova two, three and four,
which goes through processing,
So Nova four, is ultra-processed.
So this is a not-for-profit NGO.
It launched about 10 years ago,
but this year, they've added the eco score.
because we're all more conscious about the impact
that we're having on the environment.
And basically,
it taps into information that's already available,
but it is completely separate
from all retail and food manufacturing,
so that it stands independently.
Which means that as you're scanning,
not only can you make better choices for you,
but now you've got the app,
you can start to scan other products,
that haven't yet been uploaded.
It puts all that information from the label,
through their calculations.
You can actually help to add to the database too.
- What I personally think I like about it,
is that we always have the conversation,
food is just one endless compromise,
whether that's sustainability,
all of those subject matters.
How do I, as an individual, make a difference?
And actually, tools like this,
help you, be able to look at two products,
and go,
"Do you know what? This one is better,
in an eco wise or a nutrition wise,
or it's no risk score.
This is my way of having an impact, as an individual."
I like it.
But can I trust the algorithm,
that's put that information together?
- From my understanding,
I think it's a bit like Wikipedia.
15 years ago, at university,
we were told not to trust it,
because it's a bit sketchy.
This is open source.
There's still stuff adding to it,
but it goes through such independent processes,
and algorithms,
that it isn't biased,
based on retailers and manufacturers.
What is written on that label,
that is marketing, to tell you everything you want to know,
and they want you to know, about a product.
What this tells you,
is all the other information,
that hasn't been considered on that label,
based on independent information.
- It really does open your mind.
- It is completely free,
so long as you got a smartphone, to download the app,
or you can access it on desktop as well.
So it's free, no price,
but there is one question of course.
- Oh, of course.
- Are you up to give it a scan or simply not a fan?
- Oh, I'm definitely up for giving it a scan.
(funky drum break)
(audience applauding)
- Last one Baz. - May I?
Okay. I've got these at home,
and I can tell you now,
they are delicious.
- They're kind of also, as an ice cream and a brand,
not a new trend. - No.
- So what are we looking at, Ebbers?
- So Jude's are Britain's first
carbon-negative ice cream brand.
- I'm guessing there's better than Carbon neutral.
- Yes.
So they are removing more carbon dioxide
from the atmosphere,
than their own carbon footprint, as a business.
- And they're removing it by trees.
- Yes.
There's lots of different ways they're doing it.
So they've actually teamed up with a professor,
Mike Berners-Lee's one of the world's leading expert,
in carbon footprinting,
and his team, at their consulting agency.
So they've come in and given it the official audit.
What they then do, is make recommendations
on how you can both reduce your carbon footprint,
but also offset.
- [Baz] Didn't realize they made Jude's maple syrup.
- [Mike] I have a question.
The vegan ice cream,
kind of get it.
- Home based. - Dairy ice cream,
carbon negative.
Knowing what I know about cows,
and the impact of farming cattle, on the environment,
how have they done that?
- That's what interested me,
'cause I thought, wow, a carbon negative dairy ice cream.
They make one with clotted cream as well-
- Yeah. - Vanilla, it's delicious.
There are ways of putting livestock into rotations,
that mean that they sequest carbon,
and that is possible, in crop rotations.
That's not what they're doing here.
That ice cream, might not,
on its own, be carbon negative,
but as a brand,
all the things they do, is.
- So first and foremost, exceptional ice cream,
love it to bits. - You knew that,
you already had some in your freezer,
- In my head, it's always about, just plant more trees,
but it's always felt like a bit of a cop-out,
because that will solve the problem
in 10 years time, potentially.
Aren't there things you could do right now,
within your business, to lower your carbon footprint?
- A hundred percent.
And that's what these external audits kind of do,
is they take all of that into account.
So they've recently changed
their entire ice cream factory to renewable energy.
They do clever things in water recycling,
so the heat that comes off of the ice cream, as it cools,
they use to heat the next batch of cold milk.
So they're doing very clever things, to reduce their impact.
They're also working on indirect stuff.
So they're working with farmers,
to help them reduce the impact,
'cause the dairy or the oats,
and whatever else they're using,
has an impact.
But then there will still be,
at the moment, until all of those technologies catch up,
and they change the system, well enough.
There will still be carbon to catch up on.
So then they offset, by working with charities,
that can make a difference elsewhere,
because basically we will live on the same planet.
So they're working with some cool charities,
including one in Australia,
to work on huge amounts of trees.
Because as a planet, we need to get to carbon net-zero.
These guys are negative.
- As an ice cream business,
they've got quite a big challenge,
with most of their ice cream's being dairy based.
- They do admit that dairy is still the most costly,
in terms of carbon, ingredient they use,
which is why they're introducing more and more
oat-based products.
What started as one man, churning in a dairy barn.
I like the fact that you accept the need to change,
and actually to do something about it and to dig in.
I can't imagine transforming a whole factory
to renewable energy, is a cheap thing to do,
but it's the right thing to do.
- Nice.
- Price wise, how much for a tub?
- Just under a fiver, a tub.
- [Ben] You can have change,
it's £4 a tub. (register rings)
- [Baz] Okay, good.
- So that is a bog standard price,
for a tub of ice cream like that.
- I think they're doing some pretty cool stuff.
The question is, - Ooh.
- Hey Jude,
are they paving the way,
or should they just call it a day?
- Paving the way.
- Well over to you guys,
would you jump on any of those trends?
Or perhaps you're already ahead of the curve,
and using them?
- Yes. And if you are,
please comment down below, with those,
so that we can check them out and learn more.
- [Ben] Can I have a scoop?
- I have smashed the entire sundae.
(dramatic festive coda)
(production card beeps)
♪ Nah-Na-Na, na-na-na-nah ♪
♪ na-na-na-nah ♪ (desk banging)
♪ It's not a hashtag, Ash. ♪
Well, over to you. (laughs)