Sixty years of producing standardized fruit and vegetables and creating industrial hybrids have had a dramatic impact on their nutritional content. In the past 50 years, vegetables have lost 27% of their vitamin C and nearly half of their iron. Take the tomato. Through multiple hybridizations, scientists are constantly producing redder, smoother, firmer fruit. But in the process, it has lost a...

With their beautiful shopfronts and finely crafted goods, brands like Gucci, Max Mara, Louis Vuitton and Prada are seen as being the height of luxury, conjuring images of master craftsmen finely crafting each item. But - as this investigation reveals - behind the glamorous exterior, all that glitters is not gold. In the world of luxury goods, leather means record-breaking profits. For brands...

Every second, another ten tons of plastic is produced. 10% of all plastic produced ends up in the oceans, leading to predictions that, by 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the sea. Faced with this global scourge, more and more businesses are promising to recycle, including the Coca-Cola Company, a group that sells 4000 plastic bottles around the world every second. Can we depend...

It’s the soft, natural fabric associated with high quality and versatility. Used to make everything from jeans and t-shirts to tarpaulins, oil and cattle feed, it powers a 37 billion euros a year industry. But is cotton really as pure as it seems? Claims of forced labour, pollution, and even slavery have stained its wholesome reputation, creating a market for ’ethical, responsible’...

An 8 month long international investigation exposed the Paradise Papers. With 13.5 million documents, it’s the biggest leak in history. The majority come from one of the biggest names in the offshore world: the Bermuda-based Appleby law firm. Along with 400 journalists from around the world, we dissected the packages prepared for Appleby’s clients, who are either wealthy individuals...

VIDEO TEASER IN ENGLISH - Elise Lucet from France 2 and Laurent Richard from Premières Lignes are being sued by the country of Azerbaidjan for defamation in a French Court for describing the oil-rich state as a "dictatorship". This trial in France could set an important precedent for foreing governments exporting their censorship beyond their borders, to curb freedom of the press.   See...

When 15 – 30% of the timber sold worldwide is thought to be illegal, how sustainable is the wood used in Ikea’s products? The company claims it only uses responsibly-sourced materials but - as this investigation reveals - some of their sub-contractors are pillaging Romania’s ancient forests. In Indonesia, APP plantations have caused widespread pollution. This investigation, filmed in...

Secret internal documents reveal how Church officials protect priests accused of pedophilia by moving them from country to country, sometimes as far away as Africa. They call it ‘the geographical solution’. Even Pope Francis is implicated. When he was bishop of Buenos Aires, he tried to influence the Argentinean justice system in order to protect a convicted priest. From Cameroon to...

Benoit Bringer and Edouard Perrin (photo), Premieres Lignes investigative reporters, have been awarded the Pulitzer Price for their collaborative work on the Panama Papers investigation, along with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Columbia University announced on April 10, 2017 that the Panama Papers investigation has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory...

Paris, December, 12th 2016 – TV press agency Premières Lignes fully supports journalist Edouard Perrin and both whistleblowers Antoine Deltour and Raphaël Halet who are being heard this Monday in the Luxleaks appeal trial. With this long and thorough financial investigation, aired as part of the Underhand Tactics series on France 2 in 2013, Edouard Perrin did nothing but his legitimate job...

In France, the agrifood industry reaps a dizzying profit of 170 billion euros per year. This sector is exceedingly powerful; strong in both its networks and influence. But how come ham is pink? Why do we believe that it is good for our children? Why are product labels beyond understanding? From Brittany to Denmark, through California and Wisconsin, film director Sandrine Rigaud conducts a...

After Swissleak sand Luxleaks scandals, Premieres Lignes is an ICIJ partner in Panama Papers investigation. This is the biggest leak in history: 11.5 million files exposing the most secret world of offshore finance. Shell companies hiding the assets of political leaders, businessmen, celebrities, sports stars and even criminals. All resort to tax avoidance schemes depriving national treasuries...

There is a battle parents can not win even if they want to protect their children. A pollution that you can not see, that you can not feel but which the children are exposed to. Some dangerous particles, hidden in our food and in our water. Some invisible molecules in our furnitures or in the dust of our homes. Children can be exposed up to 128 chemical residues a day. Some of these products...

A mobile phone is sold every 57 seconds meaning that there are now more mobile phones on the planet than toothbrushes. We investigated the shameful secrets of the multinationals who produce our mobile phones. They are the big winners of the mobile revolution as their profits explode but what is the human and environmental cost in the production countries of China and Congo? We bring exclusive...

Who’s paying the real price for the cheap food in our supermarkets? What is the social cost of discount food? We investigate the conditions under which some of our common staples - bananas, vegetables and fish - are produced. In Italy - at the heart of democratic and "human right compliant" European Union - illegal workers from sub-Saharan Africa live in appalling conditions, working long...

Worldwide, most popular football is an annual 400 billion euro industry. The “mercato” trades multi-million euro footballers’ transfers between famous clubs. But within these overhyped sports news, much more discreet people play a decisive and very lucrative role: footballers’ agents. This investigation reveals the hidden mechanisms of this huge market. The role of these influent...

Companies like Apple, Google and Starbucks have been heavily criticized for seemingly mastering the art of tax dodging. They make billions in profits and pay virtually nothing back to the state. How do they do it? Why did it take so long for politicians to start addressing the issue? After months of investigation, we uncovered confidential documents revealing how Amazon avoids paying tax....

Every year, the average person in France eats 34 kg of sugar - twice as much as 15 years ago. 80% of the sugar we consume is hidden in everyday foods, like ‘healthy’ breakfast cereals, yoghurts or ready meals. For the past decades, the sugar lobby has been on the offensive. Not only are consumers being misled about the quantity and form of sugar in their diets, but the effects of sugar on our...

Most of us have never heard of high-frequency trading. Yet, many experts predict that the next financial crisis will probably be caused by this new Wall Street made practice. Thousands of interconnected computers are buying and selling thousands of stocks each and every micro-second. With no human control or regulation. We delve into a mad financing world dominated by machines, or rather, by...

Are companies like Apple and Samsung designing expensive electronic products, built to fail? Every year, shinier, slicker new models are released to encourage us to upgrade. But it’s not enough just to persuade consumers to buy more and more: they have to be forced to upgrade. From the iPod and iPhone, designed with an integrated battery that cannot be changed by the user, to Samsung TVs built...

More and more companies are resorting to neuromarketing. This controversial practice involves studying consumers’ brains, analyzing how and why they respond to certain stimuli, in order to influence their decisions. It’s based on the idea that 90% of our decisions are made at a subconscious level. If a brand can speak directly to our "gut instinct", bypassing reason, more of its products will...

Over the past ten years, the price of clothes has fallen by 13%. But who has been paying the price? Can the ethical claims of the big brands be trusted? From the exploitation of children and workers to forcing labourers to work in dangerous conditions and violating local and international laws, it seems many manufacturers are still reliant on sweatshop models of production. In this exclusive...

In association with BBC Panorama, we investigate the world of tax havens and show how some of the world’s most famous companies are using a tax haven at the heart of Europe to save millions in tax. Secret documents reveals how companies like GlaxoSmithKline have been getting big tax breaks on billion pound transactions in the tiny country of Luxembourg. By opening offices there, diverting...

Big brands have suddenly become environmentally responsible. Or have they? At any rate, they are proudly showing off their newfound commitment in their ads and packaging. Some have even invented “green labels” to grant them more credibility and sell more products. And yet, the activities of the very same virtuous, eco-friendly companies question their commitment to the environment. We...

To sell a cure, first you need to sell the disease. According to some research, pharmaceutical companies are medicalising normal conditions, like the menopause, promoting non-existent diseases, and transforming mild problems into serious conditions that need treatment. Twenty years ago, few people worried about their cholesterol level. Today, thanks to the pharmaceutical companies, high...