美国出台新法以提升食品安全

    This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
    这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。

    The United States is making the first major changes in its food safety rules since the nineteen thirties. A new law called the Food Safety Modernization Act will govern all foods except meat, poultry and some egg products.
    美国对其食品安全法做出了自20世纪30年代以来的首次重大调整。一部名为《食品安全现代化法》的新法案将对肉类、禽类以及一些蛋类产品以外的所有食品进行管理。

    It calls for increased government inspections of food processors. And it lets the Food and Drug Administration order the recall of unsafe foods. That agency has only been able to negotiate with manufacturers to remove products from the market.
    该法案要求政府加强对食品加工商的监管,同时允许美国食品和药品管理局下令强制召回不安全食品。此前该机构只能与食品生产商协商要求其产品退市。

    The new law also increases requirements for imported foods.
    这部新法案还提升了对进口食品的要求。

    But the law excludes small farmers and processors from the same rules as large producers. And it does not require sellers at farmers markets and food stands to meet the highest requirements. That pleases Susan Prolman, director of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.
    但这部法案将小农场主和小生产商排除在外,他们无需执行像大型食品加工商那样的规定。同时农贸市场和小吃摊的经营者也无需满足这些高标准。这让美国可持续农业联盟负责人Susan Prolman非常高兴。

    SUSAN PROLMAN: "A one-size-fits-all approach would have put small farmers and ranchers out of business or prevented them from providing locally produced, healthy fresh food to consumers who want it."
    Susan Prolman:“‘一刀切’的手段将把小型农、牧场主逐出市场,或使他们无法向有需求的消费者提供本地生产的新鲜、健康食品。”

    The Consumer Federation of America says it is generally pleased with the new law. So is much of the food industry.
    美国消费者联合会表示,他们对这部新法案基本满意。多数食品行业也如此认为。

    But Republican Representative Jack Kingston of Georgia questioned whether enough people get sick from food to justify the spending. The legislation could cost the government almost one and a half billion dollars over five years. That includes the cost of more inspectors.
    但来自格鲁吉亚州的共和党众议员杰克·金斯敦(Jack Kingston)质疑这项政府支出是否必要。这项立法将在未来5年耗费政府近15亿美元,这包括雇佣更多食品安全检查员的费用。

    Last month, federal officials lowered their estimates of how many Americans each year get sick from food. The new estimates are forty-eight million, or one in six people. One hundred twenty-eight thousand are hospitalized. And three thousand die.
    上个月,联邦官员降低了对美国每年因食品致病人数的估算。新估算值为4800万,相当于总人口的1/6。其中12.8万人入院治疗,3000人死亡。

    The old estimates included seventy-six million illnesses and five thousand deaths. Experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made their last estimates in nineteen ninety-nine. Officials say the difference is largely the result of improvements in data and research methods.
    此前的估算是7600万人致病,5000人死亡。美国疾病控制和预防中心的专家1999年做出了最后一次估算。相关官员称,这2次估算的巨大差异主要是由于数据和研究方法改进造成的。

    They say the two estimates cannot be compared to measure trends. Yet one thing has not changed.
    他们称,这2次估算无法对比以衡量趋势。然而有一点没有改变。

    About eighty percents of illnesses spread by food are still listed as having been caused by "unspecified agents." In other words, no one really knows which bacteria, viruses or other organisms were responsible.
    大约80%的由食物传播的疾病仍被列为由“不确定因素”造成的。换言之,无人确切知道到底是何种细菌、病毒或其他微生物应该对此负责。

    But in cases with a known cause the experts say salmonella is responsible for more than one-third of hospitalizations. And it causes more than one-fourth of deaths.
    但专家表示,在已知病因的案例中,沙门氏菌要为超过1/3的入院治疗案例负责,同时它也导致了超过1/4的死亡案例。

    The findings appear in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
    这一发现刊登在《新兴传染病》杂志上。