There’s no consensus what so ever. It’s quite a lot of pseudo science tabloid friendly guff.
It might end up having positive consequences, but it’s riddled with nonsense.
A piece of beef. Fine
Mince it? Not so good.
Shape it into a burger? Worse.
Put the burger in a box and sell it? Worst.
I mean, come on.
No, that’s completely erroneous and not what upf is at all. And there is proper scientific evidence behind this. It’s not pseudoscience.
Burger I made last week (Not UPF):
Beef
Salt
Pepper
Egg
EV Olive Oil
Served on a homemade sourdough bap
Big Al Frozen Burger (UPF):
Beef (85%),
Beef Fat,
Textured SOYA Protein,
Dextrose,
WHEAT GLUTEN,
WHEAT Flour (With Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin),
Stabiliser: Triphosphates, EGG White Powder, Salt, Onion Powder,
Yeast Extract,
Flavouring.
Tesco Beef Burger (UPF):
Beef (86%),
Water,
Rice Flour,
Salt,
Onion Powder,
Dextrose,
Sugar,
Yeast Extract,
Black Pepper,
Rapeseed Oil,
Paprika,
Bamboo Fibre,
Preservative (Sodium Metabisulphite),
White Pepper,
Bay,
Black Pepper Extract,
Flavouring.
A big Mac is (apparently) 100% beef. But, when everything else is factored in (bun, toppings, sauce) it has over 70 ingredients. The bun, sauce, cheese and even the pickle are UPF.