Sophie's Nutrition

Sophie's Nutrition Raising Awareness about Food Labels. Clever Supermarket Swaps. https://linktr.ee/sophiemorris
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My mission is to empower women through education and mindset coaching so they can feel more confident, have more energy, and support them to lead a mindful and happy life.

26/05/2026

The garlic in supermarkets is always mostly Chinese garlic and that’s because Chinese garlic is the supermarket default choice due to how extremely cheap it is!

China is the world’s largest garlic producer with huge scale and even after shipping it’s often still cheaper than European or locally grown garlic.

I understand supermarkets prioritise year-round consistent supply and China can supply garlic 12 months of the year (it’s very dried to increase storage life).

But why not stock more Spanish garlic? Spain can supply garlic for much of the year but the reason we don’t see it as much as Chinese garlic on our shelves is because it’s not as cheap! And it’s probably not as consistent as Chinese garlic.

Supermarkets will always prioritise price, consistency and shelf life over the country of origin of produce… but at what cost? Our local growers are dying out. We should at least see Irish garlic in all supermarkets when it is in season! I’ve only ever seen it in Dunnes… has anyone seen it in any other major retailer? It seems mad that we’re getting all our garlic from china, the other side of the world. All for the sake of profit, rather than supplying us with local quality food. The system is broken.

What do you think of this?

Picnic weather is here! Here’s some clever supermarket swaps for snacks 🙌 Have you tried any of these swaps? I’d love t...
26/05/2026

Picnic weather is here! Here’s some clever supermarket swaps for snacks 🙌

Have you tried any of these swaps? I’d love to know in the comments! And do you find these posts helpful laid out like this? ❤️

The clever swaps are:

Lidl’s Alesto protein mix with nuts & soy beans
Aldi’s Italian sea salt crackers
Homespun’s oat bar
glass jarred olives instead of plastic tubs of olives
Supernature’s peanut butter cups

25/05/2026

With sunny days finally returning to Ireland, it’s nice to have ice pops in the freezer for the kids (and grown ups!! 😆) of course it’s ideal to make our own using leftover smoothies/homemade juices but let’s face it it’s not very realistic to always have a stash on hand in the freezer, especially with an unexpected heatwave!

But pretty much all supermarket ice pops are very ultra processed, made with lots of gums, emulsifiers, glucose syrup etc - even the premium looking ones! This is a prime example of why we can’t rely on the front of packaging to know the quality of the products we’re buying.

These ones in tesco, just like the Aldi ones, are made with only freshly squeezed orange juice and sugar!! 🤩 literally just like you squeezed some orange juice at home, added sugar and froze them!

It’s so unusual to find a product swap like this in a category which is so heavily ultra processed and it’s great to see big retailers doing this - I hope more follow suit! 👀

Let me know if you’ve tried these yet?! 👇❤️

24/05/2026

These two burgers look identical but they’re quite different!

Frozen burgers can be such a handy one to have in the freezer for quick meals, especially with summer weather like we’ve had this weekend with all the BBQ’s out☀️😎

But here’s another great example of why it’s so helpful to read the ingredients list so you can make a fully informed choice before you buy. By looking at just the front of pack, you could easily assume these two Aldi burger products would contain the same ingredients —but they’re quite different.

One of them has added maize starch, sugar, dextrose, and oil, and only 83% beef. The other one is 97% Irish beef, and just seasoned with salt and pepper. It’s also slightly cheaper per kilo too!

If you’re looking for a frozen burger that’s closer to what you’d make at home, this is a really clever swap in Aldi! Just another reminder of how important it is to read the ingredients, even when the packaging looks the same.

Have you tried these burgers? 👇❤️

23/05/2026

I always get asked if there are any Irish chicken goujon products in the supermarkets.. well watch till the end to see the only one I’ve found!

But the first “made in Wicklow” chicken goujons product is a bit of a farce! This would naturally make people think the chicken itself is Irish… but no, it could be either non-eu, eu, or Irish chicken… we really don’t have a clue!! They’re importing the chicken and then processing the product in Wicklow… but labelling legislation should not allow them to write “made in Wicklow” on the front!

This is about transparency for busy consumers who don’t have time to carefully examine the fine print of everything they’re buying! If wording on packaging gives a certain impression, it should accurately reflect what’s inside, especially for shoppers who want to support Irish farmers when they can. We deserve full transparency with where we’re choosing to spend our money and it’s clear labelling legislation needs to change.

What do you think of this? I’d love to know in the comments x

21/05/2026

Re-sharing this video as we come into bbq season and the weather is looking to be lovely this weekend 😎 and these burgers are really gorgeous and would be fab on the bbq!

These fresh ready-made burgers in Dunnes are made from just 100% Irish Angus beef. One ingredient! That’s it 👏

I’ve spoken before about how you can get frozen burgers that just contain beef and perhaps salt/pepper and this is the first time I’ve seen a ready made burger in the chilled aisle that doesn’t contain preservatives and other additives! This proves it can be done, and that supermarkets really are starting to up their game with better quality products 🙌

Yes, it’s cheaper to buy the same quality mince and make burgers yourself (the Simply Better Irish Angus Mince same quantity of 400g is €4.75) but the reality in our fast paced world is that sometimes people want to pay the premium for convenience and I think it’s brilliant that we are starting to see more and more convenience products that are really good quality.

This is exactly what we need more of: better quality products, clearer labels, and easier choices on our shelves 🙌

Have you tried these?? Let me know in the comments! ♥️

20/05/2026

Happy World Bee Day! 🐝 To celebrate it I went to experience how real honey is made at my friend .ie_ beehives in Wicklow! This is my second time jarring honey straight from Yvonne’s hives and it feels just as miraculous each time! To think it takes 400 bees entire life’s work to make one single jar of honey… It’s mindblowing and really gives perspective of the value of raw honey

A lot of people were shocked to discover from my supermarket honey reel that the industry is very poorly regulated and as a result honey is one of the most adulterated foods globally

A study by the the IIEA said that “Fraudulent honey entering the EU market is a growing concern for Member States, with nearly half of the honey samples tested in a recent EU coordinated action plan found to be adulterated, often diluted with sugar syrups”

Seeing the work and time that goes into bees and local beekeepers to produce a jar of raw honey.. it is clear to understand how it could never be the price that we mostly see in supermarkets.

This is not to say never to buy supermarket blended honey as I know it’s a preferred sweetener for many people but It’s just to understand what we’re buying and to know the difference between cheap supermarket honey and what we see in this video

If you want the benefits of honey, buying raw, unblended honey is where you’ll get its amazing natural nutrients and beneficial compounds

If you’d like to buy directly from your local beekeeper, the bee associations around the country have honey festivals in September where all the beekeepers local to you sell jars

I can’t describe the taste of Yvonne’s honey straight from the hive! It is truly the ultimate honey experience and I feel very lucky having her as a good friend as I have gotten so much enjoyment out of eating jars of her honey over the years ❤️
This is not an ad, I really wanted to highlight the incredible work of beekeepers and native Irish honey bees thanks to Yvonne’s help 🐝
Yvonne will have some early crop honey in June if anyone local would like to order her honey .ie_

Did you like this video? I’d love to know 👇❤️

19/05/2026

I absolutely adore these bars as a healthy snack when on the go and need to pick up something that’s actually going to fuel me!

I’ve been enjoying them for quite a long time now as you can buy a box of them for cheaper directly on their website, but just recently they have become much more widely available in supermarkets 🙌. I’m pretty sure they are available now nationwide in Tesco as well as some Dunnes and Supervalu.

The ingredients are great, the first ingredient is oats which is what you would want in an oat bar (You would be surprised how often that is not the case for bars that are marketed as oat bars!!)

They are sweetened using chicory root syrup which is a natural sweetener that is very low in sugar and high in fibre, as a result this bar is really low in sugar for a snack bar! And the bit I really love about it is how high in fibre it is 👌 9.5 g of fibre in one bar which is a huge amount when you think an adult should be getting around 30 g of fibre a day.

Another bonus of this particular flavour - the seeds one - is that it doesn’t contain any nuts so actually I’ve put it in my kids lunchbox a few times and they absolutely love them. The recommended daily fibre intake for a primary school child is around 20 g of fibre so this bar would be around half their daily fibre needs which is amazing if you have a child who is a bit picky and not great with their veggies or whole grains.

When you compare to other healthy marketed snack bars it’s similar price point and often bigger than other bars - it’s a 50g bar which is really substantial and does genuinely fill you up.

I really love making batches of home-made healthy snacks, but sometimes I just don’t have any made and these bars have been a lifesaver for me.

I also much prefer spending my money on small local businesses that are built on integrity rather than huge profit driven multinational companies like Mars Incorporated.

What do you think? Have you tried these bars? 👇❤️

18/05/2026

This just shows the power of consumers!

We really are causing a shift in what products supermarkets are developing and putting on their shelves! Because when we collectively choose clever swaps, it creates real demand, and supermarkets are now responding to that demand 🙌

Up until very recently sliced ham products always contained the preservatives sodium nitrite, and now in a very short period of time lots of brands have released a nitrite free ham! And it’s because of the huge awareness we’ve built together around the quality of ingredients in packaged foods. Brands and supermarkets know that people are so much more aware and are choosing better quality products and so they are responding to that!

I’m not saying we should all be eating this kind of processed meat all the time, my point is that this is proof of the power that we have as consumers! And together we are making a real difference in our supermarkets 💪

All the changes we’re seeing wouldn’t be happening without you so I want to thank you so so much, it’s really incredible to see how much we can impact our supermarkets through the daily swaps we all make.

Let’s keep pushing for better quality options on our shelves ❤️


17/05/2026

Re-sharing this reel as swapping out ultra processed stock pots is one of the easiest swaps to make that will also save you money 👌

I think many people wouldn’t really think twice about stock when buying it as it’s just one of those small ingredients you need for cooking certain recipes… so it may come as a bit of a surprise that most stock pots and stock cubes are filled with lots of different additives, emulsifiers, flavour enhancers and gelling agents to try create something that resembles the stock that you make at home which is highly nutritious.. particularly bone broth which is amazing for our gut.

So obviously the ideal thing to use is homemade stock but it’s not always realistic to have some in your freezer ready when you need it.. and so this swap of using bouillon like these Dr Coy’s ones is one of my favourite shopping hacks!! Early on in my supermarket swap series I spoke about Dr Coy’s Vegetable Bouillon as a swap for vegetable stock and it was very popular but so many people said “what about beef or chicken stock as it doesn’t give the same kind of flavour?” So I was delighted when they launched a beef and chicken bouillon to solve that problem 🥳

And not only are you swapping out an ultraprocessed product for a minimally processed product, but you’re also saving money! 🤩 Because the bouillon is so concentrated you only need to add 1 tsp for every 500 ml water and so for €5.99 you’re getting 20 servings as opposed to €2.79 for only 4 servings!! Someone do the maths for me… the bouillon is about 1/3 of the price per serving right?!

It’s also a small Irish brand and you know I love to highlight small brands who care about quality ingredients, and it’s a total bonus when it’s better value too 🙌
For my UK followers you can buy direct from their website too.

Have you tried this swap? I’d love to know in the comments ❤️

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