导读:酸奶助消化,对骨骼和免疫系统有益,是人们最常购买的食品之一。然而市面上大部分酸奶都含有诸多添加剂,成为肥胖的诱因。
When it comes to understanding the challenge facing the nation on obesity, yoghurt is a good place to start.
当说到要了解英国面临的肥胖症挑战,我们不妨从酸奶聊起。
It’s one of the most common items in our shopping basket. We spend more on it than we do on crisps and bacon.
酸奶是我们平时购物最常买的物品之一,我们在酸奶上的花费比薯片和培根要高。
In its normal state - natural full-fat - it’s pretty good for you. It can boost your immune system, is good for your bones and is great at satisfying hunger.
正常情况下-天然全脂-对身体有好处,它可以增强免疫系统功能,对骨骼有好处,还能饱腹。
The problem is that a great deal of the yoghurt we buy is not the natural stuff. Instead we seem to like the processed products, which are made by partly substituting yoghurt and adding a combination of other ingredients such as gelatine, sugar and flavourings. It tends to be cheaper to produce per calorie, but nowhere near as good for you.
问题是,我们购买的很多酸奶并非天然的,但似乎人们更加青睐加工品。这些加工品将部分酸奶替换掉,加入其他多种元素如明胶、糖和调味剂。这种产品往往每卡路里成本更低廉,但对你的身体一丁点好处都没有。
The Food Foundation campaign group has taken a look at this. In a report earlier this year, the group analysed Muller Corner yoghurts, the brand leader accounting for about 15% of the market.
食品基金会活动组织近期开始关注这个问题。在今年早期的一份报告中,该组织分析了Muller Corner牌酸奶,它是酸奶品牌领导者,市场占有率达15%。
Muller produces a number of different types, one of which is the crunch corner series of yoghurts. They contain between 21g and 30g of sugar - most of this is from added sugars rather than natural sugars from milk.
Muller生产销售多种类型产品,其中一种是嚼脆系列酸奶。它含有21g至30g糖-大部分来自添加糖而非牛奶中的天然糖分。
For a young child these products can contain almost enough sugar to take them close to their daily recommended sugar intake. For adults they commonly have enough to take them over the halfway mark.
对于小孩子来说这些产品包含了足够多的糖分,几乎接近一天内建议摄入糖分量的上限。对成人而言,这也已经超过了建议摄入糖分量的一半。
To support sales, Muller Corner heavily invests in advertising. It is the dairy industry’s biggest spender - investing over 10m pounds a year in 2015, the Food Foundation report said.
为了促进销量,Muller Corner在广告上大量投资。据食品基金会报道,它是乳制品行业最大的花费者-2015年投资超过一千万英镑。
The vast majority went on TV adverts, including during X Factor, which, while watched by many children, is not covered by the ban on junk food advertising, which only applies to programmes aimed solely at children.
大部分资金用在电视广告上,包括很多儿童观看的“英国偶像”里的插播广告。英国对于专门针对儿童的电视节目中禁止播放垃圾食品广告,而酸奶不在禁止名单当中。
Muller, as you would expect, defends its brands, pointing out it has a range of products, including Mullerlight and Muller Rice, and that it is clear all its products should be consumed as part of a "varied and balanced diet".
正如你所期望的,Muller捍卫自己的品牌,指出它有一系列产品,包括Mullerlight和Muller大米,而且很明显它所有的产品应当作为“多样化和平衡饮食”的一部分。
But this doesn’t wash for campaigners. They want tighter restrictions on the food industry believing the way food is now produced, marketed and promoted is to blame.
但该活动小组成员并不买账。他们希望食品行业有更严厉的限制,并且认为现有食品的生产、销售及推广方式应当受到责备。
Some 58% of advertising spend is on confectionery and convenience food, compared to only 3% on fruit, vegetables and pasta.
58%的广告费花在糖果店以及方便食品上,而只有3%花费在水果蔬菜和面条上。
Less healthy foods are a three times cheaper source of calories than healthy foods, while promotions cause us to buy 20% more than we would otherwise.
不健康食品相比健康食品而言,其卡路里来源成本要便宜三倍,而广告则让我们比正常情况下多购买20%这些不健康食品。
Campaigners call this the obesogenic environment and say it is a major reason why we are not eating the right sort of food.
活动小组成员称这为肥胖环境,并认为这是我们没有摄入正确食物的主要原因。
Nearly two-thirds of the calories we consume are from highly processed foods, many of which are low in fibre and high in fat, sugar or salt, while three-quarters of us do not eat enough fruit and vegetables.
近三分之二的热量是我们从高度加工的食品中摄取的,这部分食物大多低纤维、高脂肪、高糖分或高盐分。有四分之三的人平时没有摄入足够的水果和蔬菜。
So what can be done? The tax on sugary drinks, announced earlier this year and due to come into force in 2018, was widely welcomed. But it is seen as just a start by the health lobby, which has been buoyed by its success in convincing ministers to take the plunge on the sugar tax - for months they had been suggesting they weren’t keen.
那么我们该做点什么?今年年初时宣布的“含糖饮料征税”将于2018年实施,该规定受到广泛欢迎。但这仅仅是健康游说者的一个开始,他们因为成功说服了政府官员冒险尝试糖分税收而受到鼓舞-数月以来他们一直表示他们并不热心。
Other steps, including a more substantial restriction on advertising, an end to promotions such as buy-one-get-one-free deals and clearer labelling, are now being targeted.
其他很多方法也被列入目标,包括更大范围限制广告、禁止“买一赠一”的广告宣传以及更清晰的标识。
Will they get their way? They certainly have the ear of government and with the obesity strategy expected to be published as soon as the EU vote is out of the way we should find out sooner rather than later.
他们会达成目标吗?他们当然有机会接触到政府的消息,当欧盟选举结束后他们的肥胖战略会尽快发布。宜早不宜迟,我们希望尽快看到结果。