The Secrets of Your Christmas Dinner - Tonight

The Secrets of Your Christmas Dinner, ITV at 7.30pm Credit: ITV / Tonight

Just over a week from now tens of millions of us will be sitting down to turkey and all the trimmings. But how much do we really know about what goes into our festive food? Tonight, Fiona Foster investigates the secrets behind the nation’s favourite meal.

When it comes to buying Christmas food, we are bombarded by choice. So, how do you decide which products to buy, and are more expensive items really worth the extra money?

Tonight puts turkeys to the test in a blind tasting when we compare a £12 supermarket turkey with an £89 free range turkey ordered online. Fiona is joined by Manchester based food critic Gordo, and Christmas loving Mum Alex. Based on taste alone, the panel of three explore whether a higher price provides value for money.

Credit: ITV / Tonight

For food retailers, the battle to bring out the best product starts early, and preparing for Christmas is a year-round project. So how do supermarkets plan behind the scenes to win our festive pounds?

We meet Neil Nugent, the man responsible for coming up with new recipes at Iceland. He has a wealth of experience behind him, including past stints at Morrisons, and Waitrose where he worked on Heston Blumenthal’s Christmas range. Even before the new year begins, the pressure is already on to start work on mince pies for 2017.

Neil Nugent works on refining his mince pie recipe Credit: ITV / Tonight

Most of us like to indulge when it comes to Christmas day, but if were to count how many calories we consume, would we be in for a shock?

On the programme, we meet a family who bravely own up to exactly what they eat at Christmas. Expert dietician Anna Daniels does the maths, and reveals that altogether the family of four rack up a combined Christmas day total of 23,600 calories.

The Secrets Of Your Christmas Dinner - Tonight is on ITV at 7.30pm and on the ITV Hub shortly afterwards.

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Useful Links:

British Dietetic Association

FareShare

Love Food Hate Waste

NHS - Understanding Calories