Suggested product: Sainsbury’s Clear Honey (£1.80 for 454g)
Premium jars of honey can now cost anywhere from £20 to £80.
While expensive manuka honey contains unique antibacterial compounds and has been shown to aid wound healing when used topically, there is little evidence that eating it delivers meaningful health benefits beyond those of ordinary honey. Both are predominantly sugar and provide similar amounts of calories.
“People often assume the higher price means it’s significantly healthier, but that’s not really the case,” Tew explains. “If you’re buying manuka because you enjoy the taste, that’s absolutely fine, but you’re unlikely to see major nutritional advantages from eating it.”
Medlin agrees that, for most shoppers, honey is one category where spending more rarely translates into better health. “The main thing is to treat it as an occasional sweetener rather than a health food,” she concludes.
The bottom line
There is no universal rule for finding the healthiest option on supermarket shelves. Instead, Tew recommends “flipping the product over and checking the ingredients list and nutrition panel rather than judging by the price tag or front-of-pack claims”.
“Pay attention to the fibre, sugar and salt content, and look at what’s actually in the product rather than being swayed by buzzwords such as ‘natural’ or ‘premium’,” she says. “For some foods, the budget version is nutritionally identical to the posh one. For others – particularly where quality or processing genuinely differs – spending a little more can be worthwhile.”
