VOA慢速英語:FDA Moves to Reduce Trans Fats Risks

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report.

這里是美國(guó)之音慢速英語健康報(bào)道。

Food safety agencies in the United States have launched an effort to end the use of partially hydrogenated oils, these oils are the main cause of "trans fats" in some processed foods. Health officials say the use of trans fats in food products is possibly harmful and can lead to deadly health conditions.

美國(guó)食品安全機(jī)構(gòu)已經(jīng)開始努力停止“部分氫化油”的使用。這些氫化油是一些加工食品中“反式脂肪”的主要成因。衛(wèi)生官員表示，在食品中使用反式脂肪可能有害，并能導(dǎo)致致命的健康問題。

It is an example of what tastes good may not be good for you. Many of the foods that can contain trans fats are American favorites, they are thought of as comfort food, a lot of people eat a great deal of these foods.

這是“好吃未必健康”的一個(gè)實(shí)例。許多含有反式脂肪的食物都是美國(guó)人最喜愛的，它們被認(rèn)為是美食，許多人都大量食用這類食物。

Lisa Martin is a heart specialist at George Washington University in Washington D.C.

莉薩·馬丁(Lisa Martin)是喬治華盛頓大學(xué)的心臟病專家。

"Cookies, cakes, pies and pastries, a lot of those prepared foods have the trans fat to increase the shelf life," said Martin.

馬丁說，“餅干、蛋糕、餡餅和糕點(diǎn)，很多這種預(yù)加工食品都含有反式脂肪以延長(zhǎng)保質(zhì)期。”

Dr. Martin says published reports have shown that trans fats block the flow of blood in the arteries and lead to serious health problems.

馬丁博士說，公開報(bào)告顯示，反式脂肪會(huì)阻塞動(dòng)脈中血液的流動(dòng)，并導(dǎo)致嚴(yán)重的健康問題。

"There are some of the articles that have shown that small amounts of trans fats reach 2 percent increases of trans fat in the diet. You can increase your chance of having a heart attack by as much as 30 percent in some of those articles. So, it is a significant risk factor for developing heart disease," she said.

她說，“有些論文表明，少量反式脂肪能使飲食中反式脂肪達(dá)到2%的增長(zhǎng)。其中一些論文表明，反式脂肪會(huì)增加30%的心臟病患病幾率。因此，它是心臟病患病的一個(gè)顯著的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)因素。”

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says some manufacturers and other businesses have already cut trans fat levels in their products. But the FDA says a further reduction could prevent an additional 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths from heart disease each year.

美國(guó)食品和藥物管理局(FDA)表示，一些生產(chǎn)商和其它企業(yè)已經(jīng)減少了產(chǎn)品中反式脂肪的含量。但FDA表示，進(jìn)一步降低反式脂肪含量每年能夠預(yù)防2萬起心臟病發(fā)作和7千起心臟病死亡。

FDA food safety director Dennis Keefe says studies on the possible healthy benefits show why trans fats should not be used in food.

FDA食品安全總監(jiān)丹尼斯·基夫(Dennis Keefe)表示，針對(duì)潛在健康益處的研究表明了為何反式脂肪不應(yīng)該用于食品中。

"Information provided by recognized scientific bodies such as the Institute of Medicine indicated that and recommended that consumption of trans fats should be reduced to as close to zero as possible," said Keefe.

基夫說，“美國(guó)醫(yī)學(xué)研究所之類的知名科學(xué)機(jī)構(gòu)提供的信息指出，反式脂肪的使用量應(yīng)該盡可能減少到零。”

Man-made trans fats have been used in restaurants and in processed foods to improve the texture, taste and the storage time of foods. But Mr. Keefe says a growing number of food producers are finding other substances to use instead of trans fats.

人造反式脂肪一直被用于餐館和加工食品中用于改善口感、味道和食品儲(chǔ)存時(shí)間。但基夫表示，越來越多食品生產(chǎn)商開始尋找其它物質(zhì)用于取代反式脂肪。

"There are products that indeed can be formulated without the use of partially hydrogenated oils," he said.

他說，“有些產(chǎn)品實(shí)際上已經(jīng)停止使用'部分氫化油'。”

Americans will have 60 days to comment on an FDA proposal for ending the use of partly hydrogenated oils before the rule is final.

美國(guó)人將有60天時(shí)間在FDA停止使用“部分氫化油”提案正式生效前對(duì)它作出評(píng)論。