In Portuguese, when you say that you are going to "substituir melado por mel" it means that for some reason you are not using syrup (melado) anymore. You are now using only honey (mel)

In English, it seems to be the other way around. When you say that you are substituting syrup for honey, it means that you are now using syrup instead of honey.

I have read somewhere that many native English speaker swap the position of the objects in the phrase and that is usually understood in a context. Is it right?

Thanks in advance

Breno