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