Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Birchwood Reduced Fat Beef Quarter pounder ultra-processed?

Beef Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Birchwood Reduced Fat Beef Quarter pounder

Yes, it's ultra-processed

  1. 1 Unprocessed
  2. 2 Kitchen staple
  3. 3 Processed
  4. 4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

  • 13 ingredients
  • 2 additives
  • Nutri-Score C

Less processed beef

Less processed isn't automatically healthier, so compare the labels for what matters to you, such as sugar or salt.

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

british beef 86%, water, breadcrumb, gram flour, maize starch, salt, dextrose, seasoning (black pepper, cracked pepper, sea salt, sodium metabisulphite, rosemary extract)

Additives: E223 Sodium metabisulphite , E392 Extracts of rosemary

As written on the pack

86% british beef, water, gluten free breadcrumb flour, gram flour, maize starch, salt, dextrose), seasoning (ground black pepper, cracked pepper, sea salt, preservative: sodium metabisulphite, rosemary extract), allergy advice: llergens, see ingredients in bold,

What makes it ultra-processed

Substances rarely used in home kitchens

Refined or extracted in factories, such as syrups made from starch or isolated proteins. The other hallmark of ultra-processed food.

  • Dextrose Dextrose is pure glucose crystallised from starch-derived syrup.
  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
2 ingredients that would only make it processed

Kitchen staples like sugar, salt and oil. On their own they make a food processed, not ultra-processed.

  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 103 beef

From least to most processed, this one ranks 84th. 49% of the beef here are ultra-processed.

Ranked by NOVA group, then by the number of ultra-processing signs, additives and ingredients. Our ordering, not part of NOVA.

All 103 beef, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 4056489824459, last edited 6 August 2026), available under the Open Database License. If something is wrong or the recipe has changed, you can correct it there.
  • Photo: Open Food Facts contributors, CC BY-SA 3.0.
  • The NOVA group is an automated estimate from crowdsourced data: a missing or mistyped ingredient can change it.
  • NOVA measures processing, not nutrition. For nutrition, Open Food Facts gives this product a Nutri-Score of C (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.