口译训练材料:关于食品安全的对话(带参考译文)

1、近年来，中国食品安全事件频发，食物中甚至出现了墨汁、染料、漂白、石蜡等有毒化学物质。虽然中国并非第一次出现食品安全丑闻，但即便是最见怪不怪的人也会对过去一年曝光的一连串食物中毒事件感到震惊。例如，广东省卫生部门发现17家粉条企业的粉条混有墨汁和石蜡，随即责令这些企业关门。最离奇的是，一些消费者晚上走进自家的厨房时发现从商店买来的猪肉竟然在黑暗中发光。中国与食品安全问题展开斗争已经多年。这个问题在2008年变得非常紧要，当时含有三聚氰胺的牛奶导致至少六名儿童死亡，数万人患病。政府随即采取果断行动，但三聚氰胺最终又再次现身，与其他多种化学物质和违法添加剂一起出现在中国食品供应中，重新激起公众对食品安全问题的担忧，在美国是否也有类似的头疼问题？

2、We have the same issue in America too. In fact, the past few years has seen a drastic rise of food poisoning. We had large scale break out of food poison in 2006, 2008 and most recently in 2009, when salmonella was found in peanuts and pistachios. There are increasing reports of food-borne illness . According to our center for Disease Control, about one quarter of the American population suffers from food poison each year. Despite the governments' attempt at implementing food safety standards, food borne illness has become an increasingly frequent and wide spread problem in the United States.

3、确实，食品安全在任何一个国家都是不容小觑的难题。我想，食品安全危机背后最大的一个问题在于某些不法商人受利益的驱使而不择手段地赚钱。一些企业认为，用了添加剂就可以削减经营成本或提高利润率，他们几乎不考虑这些添加剂会对消费者造成何种影响。而实际上，某些食品添加剂对人体有很大的危害，例如，去年长沙市近300人食用含有被禁的瘦肉精添加剂后患病，瘦肉精是政府去年整顿肉类行业行动的主要打击对象，含瘦肉精的猪肉可能更瘦，却也可能引起头痛、恶心、心悸；再比如，含亚硝酸钠的蔬菜可能长得更快，但也可能致癌。不法商贩的这些做法使得市场上的食品质量参差不齐，监管工作也异常困难。

4、Yes, that's the case in China. In our case, however, I think the reasons can be identified from 2 aspects. Firstly, it can be largely contributed to the centralization and industrialization of food production. Just three decades ago, food poisoning occurred mostly in small outbreaks at social events like family reunions, picnics and parties and was caused by improper food handling. Today we're experiencing a whole new breed of food poisoning. It is now possible for thousands of individuals from all corners of the nation to contract identical food-borne disease. For example, most of the beef consumed in the US originates in one of thirteen massive packing houses. The sheer size of these "Food factories" renders them exceptionally conducive for the spread of disease. If a single food animal is infected with a dangerous microorganism , it can contaminate thousands of pounds of meat.

5、看来，食品安全问题并不是只有中国才有，美国的食品行业也经历过类似的“成长的烦恼”。但与美国不同的是，中国一大问题是监管食品安全的政府机构过多。卫生部是食品安全问题的主要监管机构，但国家工商行政管理总局、国家食品药品监督管理局和农业部也参与食品安全的监管。机构繁多，体制复杂，就容易形成尾大不掉的局面，在执行食品监管和检测等具体的举措时也容易互相“踢皮球”。美国和中国的另一大差别是行业的规模，中国食品行业中的公司数量给监管带来了更大的障碍。

6、In that aspect, there might be some similarity in the holes of our two countries' food safety net, which is the second main reason for our food safety issue. Our nation's food safety system was created when most foods were grown, prepared and consumed locally, and it needs to be modernized to address the challenges and changes of the globalization of the food supply and rapid distribution chains . As supply chains get longer, there is more opportunity to introduce

contaminants that have a public health effect. We're also confronted by many other inadequacies in our system, such as inadequate technologies, inspection practices and inadequate staffing.

7、在民意调查中，食品安全一直是中国公众最担忧的问题之一。面对引起公众广泛关注的经常性食品安全问题，中国政府迫切希望表现出对食品供应的保护。在发生了一系列问题食品事件之后，中国政府正努力恢复公众的信心。全国人大常委会通过了新的食品安全法，旨在加强对生产企业的监管，加大对生产问题产品的企业的处罚力度。经过多年的起草和修订后，全国人大常委会通过了这项法律。新法还建立了问题产品召回机制，并批准从允许使用的添加剂到营养成分的标识等各方面执行全国统一标准。我还希望，中美两国能够互相借鉴经验教训，增进在保障食品安全方面的合作。

8、Yes, our government has also been working on improving relevant legislation. Back in January, president Obama has signed a new legislation that gives the federal FDA the authority to impose new rules to prevent contamination, and allows the agency to order, rather than simply suggest the recall of contaminated food. It also authorizes the creation of a food tracing system to quickly pinpoint the source of outbreaks. The legislation requires producers to access ways in which their products could be contaminated and to take steps to prevent such problems. Thus, there will be a fundamental shift in the FDA's approach to food safety, from reacting to food borne illness outbreak to preventing contamination in the first place.

译文：

1、In recent years, China witnessed a bunch of food safety crisis. We have even found ink, dye, bleach, wax and other toxic chemicals in food. While China is no stranger to food scandals, a spate of food contamination cases brought to light last year has been shocking even to the most jaded of observers here. For instance, health authorities in the southern province of Guangdong shut down 17 noodle makers after they were discovered mixing ink and wax to their dough. In perhaps the most bizarre case, a number of consumers earlier walked into their kitchens at night to discover their store-bought pork was glowing in the dark. China has struggled with food safety for years. The problem appeared to come to a head in 2008, when milk tainted with the industrial chemical melamine killed at least six children, sickened tens of thousands of others and appeared to shock the government into taking decisive action. But the melamine eventually reappeared in the Chinese food supply, along with a host of other chemicals and illegal additives, reigniting fears and concerns over food safety. Do you have similar problems in the US?

2、在美国我们也面临同样的问题。事实上，过去几年中，我国出现了大量的食物中毒事件。06年，08年都有大规模的食物中毒事件爆发，在最近的09年更有沙门氏菌污染花生酱和开心果的事件。 有关食品问题引发各类疾病的报道也层出不穷。根据我们疾病控制中心显示，每年都有约25%的美国公民食品中毒。 尽管政府一直在努力执行食品安全标准，但由食品安全问题所引发的疾病传播范围依然在不断扩大，而且比以往更频发。

3、Apparently, food safety is a headache for any country. I think one of the biggest issues is the drive to make a buck at any cost . Some companies see that by using additives, they can cut overhead costs or boost profit margins, and they merely aren't thinking about the affects the additives will have on consumers, though those additives can cause harm on people. For example, nearly 300 people in the city of Changsha were reported sickened after eating meat contaminated with the banned 'skinny meat' additive clenbuterol, the subject of a meat industry crackdown last year. Meat containing clenbuterol may be leaner, but it may also cause headaches, nausea , and

heart palpitations. Another example was vegetables with sodium nitrite may grow faster, but they can also cause cancer. Illegal operations by food producers, with a mix of varied qualities of food have made it difficult to supervise the food market.

4、是的，在中国确实有这些问题。但是对于美国来说，我想导致视频安全问题的愿意主要有两方面。 首先，这可以很大程度上归咎于食品的集中化、工业化生产。三十年前，食物中毒事件主要出现在诸如家庭聚会，野餐以及派对等社交场合，规模较小，而且都是由于食物加工过程处理不当所导致的。而今天，我们所面临的食物中毒是完全不一样的。分布在全国各地的数千公民很可能会感染上同一种与食物有关的疾病。例如，美国市场上的大多数牛肉都是从13个主要的包装仓库来的。这些仓库的巨大规模使得疾病传播的机会大大提高。如果某一头牲畜感染了某种危险的致病菌，就很有可能污染上千镑的肉制品。

5、So struggles with food safety are not a specifically Chinese problem. The U.S. has gone through similar growing pains in the food industry. But unlike the US, one issue in China is that there are too many cooks in the kitchen -- or rather too many bureaucracies handling food safety . The Ministry of Health is the lead agency on food safety issues, but the State Administration for Industry and Commerce is also involved, as are the State Food and Drug Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture. The bureaucratic system is too big to function, and they may blame each other when it comes to food safety inspection and supervision. Another big difference between the U.S. and China is size. The quantity of companies involved in China's food industry has made for tougher regulatory obstacles.

6、从这个角度说，中美两国在食品安全制度上也许存在类似的缺陷，这正是我接下来要提到的第二个原因。我们国家的食品安全系统还是在食品只在地区范围内生产销售的时期创立的，因此需要及时更新才能应对食品供应销售全球化所带来的挑战和变化。随着供应链的增长，一些能够导致公众健康问题的污染物能介入的机会也就增多了。同时，加上我们又面临着很多体制上的不足，如技术不足，检测不足，人员不足等等，更加剧了食品安全问题的风险。

7、Food safety consistently ranks among the top concerns of Chinese citizens in opinion polls. The government is eager to be seen as protecting the food supply, in the face of regular and well-publicized problems. Chinese lawmakers passed new food-safety legislation meant to tighten supervision of manufacturers and impose tougher penalties on those who make bad products as the government seeks to restore public confidence after a spate of problems with tainted food. The new law, approved by the standing committee of the National People's Congress after years of drafting and revision, also sets up a system to recall problem products and authorizes the enforcement of uniform nationwide standards for everything from allowable additives to nutritional labeling. I also hope that we can learn from each other and make more cooperation in safeguarding the food in our two countries.

8、我同意。美国政府也一直致力于完善相关的立法规定。去年11月，奥巴马总统签署了一项允许食品药品监督管理局施行新规定以保障食品安全的立法，立法规定，食品药品监督局不仅有权建议召回有毒食品，更有进一步的权利直接施行召回。 此项立法要求生产商介入其产品可能受到污染的环节并采取措施预防此类问题。因此，在未来，食品药品监督局在处理食品安全问题上将有一个新的转变，那就是从被动应对食品安全突发事件到从源头主动防止食品污染。