Sophie's Nutrition

Great news for buying honey! 🍯

The EU’s updated Breakfast Directive introduced significant new honey labelling rules that came into force on 14 June 2026. Previously, honey packaging only had to state whether the countries of harvest were part of the EU or not, with no further detail required. That vague language is now gone 🎉

Under the new rules, honey blends containing honey from multiple countries, whether EU or non-EU sources, must list each country of origin on the label in descending order of their share in the blend by weight!

The old “blend of EU honeys” and “blend of non-EU honeys” terminology has also been scrapped 👏

The push for change was driven by rampant fraud: as many as half of the honey samples checked were found to be fraudulent, with honey commonly diluted with cheap sugar syrups made from rice, corn, or beet, sold at a lower price but without the same nutritional properties as pure honey.

This is really good news for shoppers. For too long, vague labels have made it almost impossible to know where the honey you were buying actually came from and whether it was essentially sugar syrup you were buying! Now, for the first time, you’ll be able to pick up a jar in your local supermarket and see exactly which countries it originated from and in what proportion. That kind of transparency puts real power back in the hands of consumers, and makes it a lot easier to choose Irish or single-origin honey when that matters to you.

I haven’t seen the new label in operation in supermarkets yet, and that’s because companies are allowed to sell through existing stock before the new labels kick in, so I’ll be keeping a close eye!! 👁️
If you spot a jar with the new country-of-origin breakdown on it, please send me a picture! We need to hold these companies to account and make sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to do 💪

BirdsEye might be the big brand we all grew up with, but when you look closely at the labels, the quality doesn’t match the cost.

Their fish fingers are often made up of less than half fish, and yet they’re so much more expensive than own brand fish fingers! With Tesco’s own-brand version you’re getting more fish for nearly half the cost, and still 100% fillet is used (not different parts of the fish which I know some people say is the reason own brand fish fingers are cheaper than fish fingers)

It just goes to show that the brand name on the box doesn’t always mean better quality. Sometimes the supermarket’s own product is not only cheaper but actually the better choice. Reading the back of the pack is the only way to spot these differences, and honestly, once you see it, it’s hard to unsee.

Have you been a loyal BirdsEye customer before? Would love to hear your thoughts 👇🐟

Can you just imagine if the front of food packs were fully transparent as to what these foods contained?! I think very quickly everyone would be shopping very differently…

Sadly this will never happen because some big food companies don’t want us to know the reality of a lot of their products!

The way these companies portray information on the front of pack is very strategic and is often designed to mislead us.

The amount of food packaging that I constantly find that is misleading for consumers, it is clear as day we need better regulation around food labelling requirements. With diet related disease on the rise, consumers need more transparency about what they are picking up in the supermarket.

If you’d like to learn about the products I DO recommend from brilliant brands that are in the supermarkets, then make sure to pre-order my new book ‘Sophie’s Swaps Homemade Wins’ which includes lists of some of my top product recommendations!! as well as over 70 simple and realistic homemade swaps recipes to help you live a healthy life with less ultra processed foods ❤️

Just comment BOOK and I will send you the link, and remember if you pre-order via Eason then you’ll be entered into the competition to win a supermarket shopping spree with me where I will come to your local supermarket, do your weekly shop with you, have the chats, find clever swaps and the cost of the shop is on me too 🥳

Love Sophie x

Paying MORE for Lindt makes zero sense 🍫

Single origin dark chocolate is a great swap in the supermarket… Most mainstream chocolate (yes, including Lindt) sources cocoa from West Africa, where child labour and poor farmer pay are well-documented issues.

These Asda Exceptional bars use single origin cocoa from Uganda, Madagascar, and Peru which are regions largely free from those concerns, and carry Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance certification.

Lindt is also £3 for a 100g bar and not single origin whereas the Asda Exceptional bars are £2.28 for the same size bar!

Great quality chocolate with Better traceability and ethics.. and 72p cheaper!

This is a definite clever swap!

Have you tasted it? Is it good? I’d love to know in the comments! 👇❤️

It’s mad how much some of these brands are charging just because they slap the word protein on the label. This “protein” yogurt by Danone is charging such a premium for what is essentially an ultraprocessed yogurt and they’re getting away with it just because they’re using the “high protein” health claim on the front!

The narrative out there that we all need to be getting more protein means people are drawn to these products thinking it’s going to help them get the protein they need!

But when you check the protein content it’s pretty much the same as a plain pot of Skyr.
The Skyr yogurt was a third of the price and it’s just natural yogurt made with milk. And you don’t see big health claims on the front because it doesn’t need to, it’s naturally high in protein and it’s not overcharging us for it.

So if you’re picking up yogurts to get some protein in, don’t fall for these “high protein yogurts” - save yourself some money and buy something like skyr or Greek yogurt and you can flavour yourself with some berries 👌 a much more nutritious option with the same amount of protein and cheaper!! Win win 🙌

Glenhaven have changed their packaging and they have two very similar looking products - their Chicken Goujons and their Chicken Tenders. You could easily think they’re the same if shopping in a rush!

But flip them over and here’s what you find:

Chicken Tenders - “proudly produced in Ireland using EU and non-EU chicken.” So we have no idea where that chicken is actually coming from. Could be anywhere.

Chicken Goujons - “proudly produced in Ireland using Irish chicken.” Local chicken, fully traceable.

I know from other videos I’ve done on country of origin of chicken goujon products that people definitely would prefer to choose Irish chicken products but you just would have no idea by looking at the front of the two packs!

And here’s the part that I found very surprising - the Irish chicken option is actually slightly cheaper per kilo (€11.08 vs €11.88). So you’re paying MORE for the one where you know less about the origin of the meat.

The Chicken Tenders also have “high protein” on the front of pack, which could pull someone towards grabbing that one without a second thought. I’m really curious to know which one you would choose by solely looking at the front of these two packs? Let me know in the comments!

This is another example of why it pays to flip the pack around and check the back. And I really believe the country of origin should be on the front! Consumers deserve that clear transparency without having to search the fine print at the back.

Would you have noticed the difference? Let me know in the comments 👇

Frozen pastry is such a handy shortcut for baking, whether it’s sausage rolls, tarts, pies, etc! But the big brand most of us know ‘Jus Rol’ is made with palm oil and emulsifiers, which is not how pastry should be made 🙅‍♀️ Real pastry should be made with flour, butter, and water. And if I’m going to make a pastry dish at home I’d like it to taste lovely and buttery the way it should be 👌

That’s why I was so delighted to find this small Irish brand in Tesco, made by Mairead in County Meath. She also makes the simply better frozen pastry for Dunnes which I’ve highlighted before! Her pastry is made exactly as you would make it yourself at home.. flour, butter, water, nothing else. It tastes amazing and is the perfect freezer staple for when you want to make gorgeous homemade bakes without the effort of making pastry from scratch.

As you know I absolutely love supporting small Irish producers who really care about making quality food for us to enjoy, and this one is such a gorgeous find.

Have you tried it yet? 👇🥐

SuperValu’s own brand Skyr I think is a super find for a high protein yogurt!

‘high protein’ marketed yogurts can really rip us off, they tend to charge a huge premium just for slapping “protein” on the front. And most of them are very ultraprocessed, packed with unnecessary additives.

Whereas you can save a lot of money by opting for a yogurt that’s naturally high in protein - like skyr! And this Supervalu one I think is a brilliant swap for Skyr because it’s really great value at only €2 for a big 1kg tub, it’s got 9g protein per 100g (which is the same amount as most of the high protein ultraprocessed yogurts), it’s minimally processed made with just one ingredient (milk!) and a big reason is because it’s made in Ireland using Irish and Northern Irish milk.

Compare this to the more well known Yoplait Skyr which is €3.50 per kilo and made with French milk. That’s great if you’re in France, but if you’re in Ireland this SuperValu one is an easy swap that will give you the same protein, better price, and you’re supporting dairy farmers on this island.. which really matters.

Top it with some berries and a drizzle of honey and you have one of the easiest high protein snacks going!

Have you tried this one? Let me know in the comments 👇❤️

“Seasonal apples” at Dunnes... but seasonal where? The packaging on these apples is shouting “seasonal” and yet they’re coming from the furthest part of the world, all the way from New Zealand.

Would you assume the “seasonal” on this packaging meant they are local, Irish-grown apples? Yes the fine print on the back says they select from the best orchards “when in season in that part of the world”, but how many of us are reading the small print when we’re rushing through the supermarket?

I think “seasonal” on the front like this could easily mislead people into thinking local apples. Would you have assumed they’re Irish?

I’m really curious to hear what you guys think of this! Let me know in the comments 👇