Sliced Bread

While Sliced Bread takes a break we serve up? Toast. A study of the spectacular failures of wonder products and businesses which had promised so much to consumers. In each episode the presenter and BBC business journalist, Sean Farrington, examines one big idea. What did it promise? Why did people back it? Why did they get burnt? Some of the world?s most successful businesses have also brought us some of the world?s most remarkable failures. So, what led them to be toast? And what can we learn from their stories today? Sean unpicks all the early optimism, hype and ambition. He speaks to expert commentators and to people involved with doomed wonder products to discover how they view things now and what, if anything, could have been done differently. Along the way he discovers charming and surprising stories from people who took to these products but lived to regret it and, with the help of self-made millionaire and serial entrepreneur Sam White, tries to work out where they went wrong. This week, Sean and Sam look into a fat substitute called Olestra which promised to make savoury snacks healthier. With none of the fat and far fewer calories, Olestra sounded like a dieter's dream..... but it didn't turn out that way. Toast is a spin-off from Sliced Bread, the series in which Greg Foot investigates the latest so-called wonder products to find out whether they really are the best thing since sliced bread. Sliced Bread returns for a new batch of investigations in May. In the meantime, Toast is available in the Sliced Bread feed on BBC Sounds. Toast is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4.

From the team behind the hit series, Sliced Bread. Sean Farrington investigates wonder products and businesses which promised so much to consumers.... but ultimately ended up toast. Sean is joined by the self-made millionaire and serial entrepreneur, Sam White, to conclude what went wrong. Together they look at why a product or business failed, and what we can learn from their stories today. In this episode, Sean talks about wearable tech and Google Glass. These futuristic looking spectacles, with a heads-up display which showed text messages and street directions and allowed users to record video footage of what was happening around them, were named in Time Magazine as one of the best inventions of 2012. There was plenty of hype. Google even demonstrated them by live-streaming a sky dive using Google Glass.But by 2015, just two years after their release, Google announced that Google Glass Explorer, the consumer version of the glasses, was going to be shelved, and the version used by businesses has since been ditched too. Sean and Sam speak to the BBC's former technology correspondent, Rory Cellan Jones, and the 'godfather' of wearable technology, Professor Sandy Pentland from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology), to discover how Google Glass went from being the best thing since sliced bread, to toast.Presenter: Sean Farrington Producer: Jay Unger

Greg Foot introduces a new series from the team that brought you Sliced Bread.In Toast, Sean Farrington examines the wonder products and businesses that promised so much at launch but ultimately crashed and burned. With the help of industry experts, he asks what went wrong and what - if anything - they could have done differently.Toast is available in the Sliced Bread feed on BBC Sounds.

Is sourdough the best thing since Sliced Bread?It?s the last episode in the current series so I thought it was about time I investigated this! Listener Janet got in touch wanting to know whether sourdough really does live up to the hype. Is it better for our digestive health than other breads? Is it made with fewer additives? And do the cheaper sourdough loaves we can buy in the supermarket really cut it - or are they just ?sourfaux??To find out, I went to a baking school to make a sourdough loaf from scratch, learning about the process and ingredients that go to make the sort of sourdough you?d find at an artisan or traditional bakers - and might cost over five pounds.And I speak to one of the world?s leading nutritional experts on bread to find out which types we should eat for our health.This series, we?re testing and investigating your suggested wonder-products. If you?ve seen an ad, trend or fad, and wonder if there?s any evidence to back up a claim, drop us an email to sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk or you can send us a voice note to our WhatsApp number: 07543 306807.PRESENTER: Greg Foot PRODUCER: Simon Hoban

Mascara is a crucial element of many a make-up bag - but can mascaras really deliver on their promises of longer, fuller, or curlier lashes? Listener Kath got in touch to ask exactly that. She also wants to know if you pay more for mascara, do you get better results? How should we remove it - and what about waterproof products that are tough to take off? Are we potentially damaging our lashes? Greg Foot sets his sights on investigating by recruiting some regular mascara wearers to try out differently priced products, as well as speaking to a consultant dermatologist and cosmetic chemist to find out. This series, we?re testing and investigating your suggested wonder-products. If you?ve seen an ad, trend or fad, and wonder if there?s any evidence to back up a claim, drop us an email to sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk or you can send us a voice note to our WhatsApp number: 07543 306807.PRESENTER: Greg Foot PRODUCER: Kate Holdsworth

Do toothpastes promising to repair enamel and help with sensitive teeth really work?We've all been there - you go down the supermarket aisle to grab toothpaste and suddenly you?re faced with an ocean of the stuff, all promising to do different things. Buzz-phrases like ?protect? and ?repair? all vie for your attention. But just what are the ingredients in all these different toothpastes? And do they live up to the marketing hype?In this episode we hear from three listeners keen to find out: Bernadette has sensitive teeth, Deirdre is concerned about her enamel and Melvyn wants to protect his gums. Can presenter Greg Foot find a toothpaste that will work for them and leave them all smiles?This series we?re testing and investigating your suggested wonder-products. If you?ve seen an ad, trend or fad, and wonder if there?s any evidence to back up a claim, drop us an email to sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk or you can send us a voice note to our WhatsApp number: 07543 306807.PRESENTER: Greg Foot PRODUCER: Simon Hoban

Sleep is never more important than when you aren?t getting any. And there?s a large range of night time teas, herbal tablets and relaxing oils and sprays that promise to help you get some. But can they really deliver?Listener Corrine got in touch after struggling with her sleep post menopause, wanting to know if there was any evidence to back up the claims of various natural sleep aids. Can they give her the restful night?s sleep she craves ? or is it just a waste of money? She sets Greg Foot the job of finding out, by speaking to an expert sleep physiologist, as well as a professor in clinical pharmacology, therapeutics and toxicology. This series we?re testing and investigating your suggested wonder-products. If you?ve seen an ad, trend or fad, and wonder if there?s any evidence to back up a claim, drop us an email to sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk or you can send us a voice note to our WhatsApp number: 07543 306807.PRESENTER: Greg Foot PRODUCER: Kate Holdsworth

We spend a lot of time on them so it?s important to get the right mattress. But buying one can be confusing. Some use springs while others are made out of foam - or there?s a combination of both. Then there?s memory foam, with brands like Tempur claiming to make their mattresses out of ?proprietary? material. And can a good mattress help to alleviate back pain?These are the questions keeping listener Stephen up at night and he tasks presenter Greg Foot with finding out more. Greg speaks to experts in the mattress industry and a sleep specialist, looking at the scientific evidence to test whether the claims made by mattress manufacturers live up to the marketing hype. This series, we?re testing and investigating your suggested wonder-products. If you?ve seen an ad, trend or fad, and wonder if there?s any evidence to back up a claim, drop us an email to sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk or you can send us a voice note to our WhatsApp number: 07543 306807.Presenter: Greg Foot Producer: Simon Hoban

After the Sliced Bread episode on shampoo, a number of listeners got in touch to request a follow-up episode on conditioners. So of course, we obliged. Listener Katie wanted to know what they actually do to our hair, if they can deliver on promises for shinier, smoother, or stronger locks ? and whether leave-in treatments could be more effective than conditioners you wash off in the shower? Listener Franziska also got in touch, as she wondered if we could also have a look at heat protection products. She wanted to know what?s in them, can they offer our hair any protection while styling, and is there a difference between the effectiveness of sprays or creams? Greg Foot rinses out the claims on both, speaking once again to the experts from Shampoo ? also available on BBC Sounds. This series, we?re testing and investigating your suggested wonder-products. If you?ve seen an ad, trend or fad, and wonder if there?s any evidence to back up a claim, drop us an email to sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk or you can send us a voice note to our WhatsApp number: 07543 306807.Presenter: Greg Foot Producer: Kate Holdsworth

Listener Isla, 11, wants to know if bottled water from the UK's biggest selling brands such as Evian and Buxton is cleaner, healthier, cheaper and greener than the stuff that comes from the tap.Greg Foot drills down into the subject, investigating the claims made by manufacturers of bottled water. Does it make any difference if water has spent years underground being "filtered by rocks" before being bottled? Are there more minerals in bottled water than in tap? And even though companies are making more of their bottles from recycled plastic, what?s the environmental impact?Greg speaks to experts including a lecturer in water chemistry, an environmental NGO and a water sommelier (yes, they?re a thing!) who explains why some bottled water can cost more than a hundred pounds.This series, we?re testing and investigating your suggested wonder-products. If you?ve seen an ad, trend or fad and wonder if there?s any evidence to back up a claim, drop us an email to sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk or you can send us a voice note to our WhatsApp number: 07543 306807.PRESENTER: Greg Foot PRODUCER: Simon Hoban