Unlock the Best Healthy Food Options in Newcastle: Your Ultimate Guide to Nutritious Eats!

In today's fast-paced world, ready-to-eat meals have become increasingly popular. These meals, available for dining in, taking away, or delivery, are often energy-dense and lack essential nutrients compared to home-cooked meals. However, with growing awareness of health and wellness, many individuals are seeking healthier options when eating out. This article explores the landscape of healthy food restaurants in Newcastle, considering both general trends and specific establishments catering to health-conscious consumers.

The Rise of Ready-to-Eat Meals and Public Health Interventions

The consumption of ready-to-eat meals is associated with higher energy and fat intake, coupled with lower micronutrient consumption. The popularity and availability of these meals have surged in recent decades across high-income and middle-income countries. In response to these trends, public health interventions have become crucial. Ready‐to‐eat meals sold by food outlets that are accessible to the general public are an important target for public health intervention.

Strategies for Promoting Healthier Choices

Numerous strategies have been implemented to encourage healthier eating habits when purchasing ready-to-eat meals. These interventions can be categorized based on the Nuffield intervention ladder, which ranks them by their level of intrusiveness and impact on personal autonomy. Thirty studies describing 34 interventions were categorized by type and coded against the Nuffield intervention ladder:

Restrict Choice: These are the most intrusive interventions, such as trans fat laws, changing pre-packed children's meal content, and food outlet award schemes.
Guide Choice: This involves using incentives or disincentives to steer consumers towards healthier options, such as price increases for unhealthier choices and price decreases for healthier choices.
Enable Choice: Interventions in this category aim to make healthier options more visible and accessible, such as signposting (highlighting healthier/unhealthier options) and telemarketing (offering support for the provision of healthier options to businesses via telephone).
Provide Information: This includes calorie labeling laws, voluntary nutrient labeling, and personalized receipts.

The Effectiveness of Different Interventions

Studies have shown that more ‘intrusive’ interventions that restricted or guided choice generally showed a positive impact on food‐outlet‐level and customer‐level outcomes. Interventions to promote healthier ready‐to‐eat meals sold by food outlets should restrict choice or guide choice through incentives/disincentives. While some interventions, like menu labeling, have not been proven effective in changing purchasing patterns, additional strategies to enhance menu labeling practices and strategies beyond labeling (including implementation of nutritional standards) may be useful.

Defining Ready-to-Eat Meals

For clarity, ready‐to‐eat meals are defined as complete meals that need no further preparation and are bought from food outlets, to eat in, to take away or to be delivered. A bought sandwich or salad box would be included in this definition. However, a packet of crisps/potato chips and a drink, or a chocolate bar, would not be considered a ready‐to‐eat meal, even if the person consuming them was doing so in replacement of a meal.

Research Methodology and Scope

A systematic review was undertaken using established methods based on those used by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and the findings are reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses guidelines. The specific food outlets included were those that, as their main business, sold ready‐to‐eat meals and were openly accessible to the general public. Supermarkets and general food stores selling ready‐to‐eat meals (e.g. salad boxes and sandwiches) were not included, but cafes and restaurants within supermarkets and other retail stores selling ready‐to‐eat meals were. Food outlets that provided ready‐to‐eat meals free of charge (e.g. community‐based lunch clubs for the elderly or homeless) were excluded. Also excluded were food outlets that are not openly accessible to the general public, including those based in schools, universities, workplaces and health/social care institutions.

Types of Interventions

Any type of intervention that aimed to change the practices of food outlets in order to promote healthier menu offerings was included. Interventions identified for review were assessed for type of intervention; 11 categories were identified. Interventions that were categorized as ‘signposting’‐type studies were defined as those that highlighted to customers the healthier, or less healthy, menu options available. This was usually carried out using symbols next to menu items, but table signage and posters were other methods used. Signposting differs from calorie labelling on menus as it provides some indication of the ‘healthfulness’ of a menu item rather than just providing information.

Consumer and Food Outlet Outcomes

Any outcome that included consumer or food outlet outcomes is included. Consumer outcomes could include dietary outcomes (e.g. energy intake), purchasing behaviour (e.g. sales data) and attitudes towards healthier menu choice and preferences.

General Findings from Studies

A total of 30 studies (reported in 40 articles), describing 34 interventions, were included. Of the 30 included studies, 19 were repeat cross‐sectional studies, 7 with a comparison control group and 12 without. Twenty‐seven of the 30 included studies were based in the USA, two studies were based in Australia and one was based in the UK. In terms of the types of food outlets targeted, 18 studies focused on chain food outlets and 12 studies were set in other types of food outlet, including three studies in non‐chain food outlets; one study each in takeaway food outlets; a delicatessen‐style food outlet; privately owned fast‐food‐style Mexican food outlets; community food outlets that included both counter and table service; Latino family‐owned food outlets; licensed retail food outlets; licensed hotels, clubs and nightclubs; restaurants and cafes; and small independent catering outlets.

Healthy Dining Options in Newcastle

Newcastle offers a variety of restaurants that prioritize healthy cuisine. OpenTable analyzes nearly 2 million global diner reviews each month to identify restaurants with the best overall healthy cuisine. Here are some notable options in Newcastle Upon Tyne:

Read also: Healthy Eating on the Run

Saltwater Fish Company: Designed for seafood lovers, this restaurant in Fenwick Foodhall operates as both a Fish Bar and Fishmonger with a ‘we cook what we sell, we sell what we cook’ philosophy. It focuses on simple yet creative cooking and friendly service.
Blackfriars: Located in a 13th-century medieval friary, Blackfriars serves a classic British menu sourcing seasonal produce from local farms and markets. It has an AA rosette and is included in the Which? Good Food Guide, Hardens, and Michelin Guides.
Hinnies: This relaxed and friendly neighborhood restaurant serves comfort food with a Geordie influence, using local and seasonal produce.
Côte Newcastle: A premier French restaurant in the heart of Newcastle upon Tyne, offering a charming outdoor seating area and French-inspired cuisine.
Kiln: A small restaurant in the Ouseburn, serving brunch, Mediterranean & Middle Eastern inspired tapas, homemade cakes, and cocktails.
SIX at the BALTIC: This stylish quayside rooftop restaurant offers refined modern British cuisine with panoramic views of the Newcastle cityscape. Menus are inspired by the best seasonal, local artisan ingredients.
Dobson & Parnell: A bustling restaurant on Newcastle’s vibrant quayside, specializing in perfectly-executed, refined European cuisine using ethically-sourced local seasonal produce.
Pho Newcastle: A healthy Vietnamese restaurant with many vegan and gluten-free options, specializing in phở, curries, rice dishes, wok-fried noodles, and fresh salads. Over a third of the menu is vegan, and nearly all of it is gluten-free.
The William De Percy Coaching Inn and Crêperie: This inn is renowned for its high-quality food, drink, and customer service.
The Plough Alnwick: A beautiful coaching inn with a restaurant serving fresh food from various Northumberland Estates.

Vegan-Specific Options in Newcastle

For those seeking vegan options, Newcastle has several dedicated establishments and restaurants with extensive vegan menus:

The Ouseburn Area: This hip area offers independent venues, craft-beer pubs, brunch spots, and cozy cafes.
Grainger Market: This iconic indoor market has many trendy modern venues, including places for salads and sandwiches.
Earthlings: Located right beside Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha, this venue offers a changing selection of vegan cakes and drinks. You can also get vegetarian food for free at the Sikh temple.
Heaton Area: This neighborhood offers Asian-inspired vegan options, including vegan sushi, bento boxes, and poke bowls.
This restaurant started as a street food truck and has a reputation for being one of the best vegan spots in northeast England, with a diverse and imaginative vegan menu.
This restaurant has a vegan menu with 10 different vegan options.
Glazed: Offers a range of sweet vegan food, with menus that change regularly.
This is a popular takeaway spot offering vegan twists on classic Indian dishes.
This pub in Jesmond serves a vegan burger that tastes like a meat burger.

Strategies Employed by Restaurants

Many restaurants employ strategies to promote healthier choices, including:

Reformulation: Reducing salt, removing trans fats, and reducing energy content in meals.
Portion Sizes: Promoting smaller portion sizes.
Nutritional Information: Providing consumers with better nutritional information.
Signposting: Highlighting healthier menu options.

Read also: Mobile Dining Revolution

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