Manuka Honey

A small jar of this sticky stuff can cost anything from around ten pounds to over a thousand. Some brands claim it can help with sore throats, skin problems, hay-fever and poor sleep. Other producers curiously make no health claims at all about their manuka products. So what’s the buzz about and is there any science behind it? Listener and beekeeper David got to get in touch to ask whether manuka honey can boost the immune system, and if it has any benefits over and above the ordinary honey from his bees produce. Greg Foot gets stuck in to find out, talking with two microbiologists to learn why manuka honey is different and if there’s any truth to some of those sweet sounding claims. This series, we’re testing 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 new WhatsApp number: 07543 306807Presenter: Greg Foot Producers: Julian Paszkiewicz & Kate Holdsworth Researcher: Darcy Tapley

Om Podcasten

While Sliced Bread takes a break we serve up… Dough. Dough is the series from BBC Radio 4 which looks at the business behind profitable, everyday products and considers how they might evolve in the years to come.In each episode, entrepreneur Sam White speaks to industry experts to find out how these products manage to make a profit and what game-changing - and pointless - innovations they have seen in their time.Tom Cheesewright, a technology expert and applied futurist, then offers his predictions on what might be coming beyond the current production pipeline.Episodes of Dough are released weekly on Thursdays wherever you get your podcasts. But if you’re in the UK, you can listen to the latest episode on BBC Sounds first, a week earlier than anywhere else. Produced by Jon Douglas. Dough is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.Sliced Bread returns for a new batch of investigations in April when Greg Foot will investigate more of the latest so-called wonder products to find out whether they really are the best thing since sliced bread.In the meantime, Dough is available in the Sliced Bread feed on BBC Sounds.