Food and Health
The food we eat seems to have profound effects on our health. Although
science has made enormous steps in making food more fit to eat, it has, at
the same time, made many foods unfit to eat. Some research has shown that
perhaps eighty percent of all human illnesses are related to diet and forty
percent of cancer is related to the diet as well, especially cancer of
the colon. Different cultures are more prone to contract certain
illnesses because of the food that is characteristic in these
cultures. That food is related to illness is not a new discovery. In
1945, government researchers realized that nitrates and nitrites,
commonly used to preserve color in meats, and other food additives, caused
cancer. Yet, these carcinogenic additives remain in our food, and it
becomes more difficult all the time to know which things in the packaging
labels of processed food are helpful or harmful. The additives which we eat
are not all so direct. Farmers often give penicillin to beef and poultry,
and because of this, penicillin has been found in the
milk of treated cows. Sometimes similar drugs are administered to
animals not for medicinal purposes, but for financial reasons. The farmers
are simply trying to fatten the animals in order to obtain a higher price
on the market. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has tried
repeatedly to control these procedures, the practices continue.
食品与健康我们所吃的食物似乎对我们的健康有深远的影响。 尽管科学上已取得许多 进展，使食物更适合我们食用，但与此同时它也使许多食物不宜食用了。
一些研究已经表 明，人类大概有 80%的疾病与饮食有关，40%的癌症，特别是结肠癌，也与饮食有关。 不
同的文化会使人们更易患某些疾病，这是由这些文化的人们喜好的食物所致。 食物与疾病 有关并不是新发现。 1945
年，政府部门的科研工作者了解到，被广泛用于肉类以保持肉类 色泽的硝酸盐、亚硝酸盐和其他的添加剂可诱发癌症。 可是这些致癌物质依然存在于我们
的食物之中。 与此同时，要想知道加工食品标签上的哪些成分对健康有利，哪些成分对健 康不利，变得更加困难了。 我们吃到的这些添加物并非都是如此直接的。
农民常给牛和家 禽注射青霉素，因而在受过注射的牛所产牛奶里发现青霉素。 有时让家禽服用这类药物并 非是为了治病，而是为了经济上的缘故。
农民们只是想使家畜长得更肥壮可以上市场上卖 到好价钱。 虽然食物和药品管理局已一再设法控制这种情况的发生，但是这种行为仍在继续。
译路通武汉江汉区翻译公司整理
2012.6.21