時事短打 tainted starch 毒澱粉

看時事也可以學英文。近來許多加工食品一一淪陷。毒澱粉事件持續延燒。炎熱的夏天不能來杯清涼的珍珠奶茶還真是掃性。但是吃下去的東西不安全，口腹之慾還是免了。今天我準備了一篇小短文，把這次的毒澱粉事件簡單交代，大家可以學到相關的英文字彙。其中毒澱粉一詞，英文就有很多說法，如toxic starch或 tainted starch都有人用。一般我們常說的黑心商品，千萬別說成black heart products，因為這不是英文啊，黑心這兩個字是中式思維，所以黑心商品要用contaminated, toxic 或是 tainted這類的字眼來形容，中文的意思是「毒」或是有毒(被污染的)食品。

為了身體著想，請大家多吃食物少吃食品(蔬菜水果最好)。我經常苦口婆心地規勸大家，南陽街那幾條街賣吃的店家，為了要賣給學生，所販售的食物定價都非常便宜，可是那麼低價的東西，通常原料成本很低，所以原料來源不一定可靠。為了弄得好吃一點，通常商家都添加了很多的鹽分，鈉sodium含量通常爆表，吃久了也傷身。我覺得外食幾乎都太鹹了，現在吃到味精還會口渴一整天，所以儘量都不在外面吃。大家也要慎選食物，QQ彈牙的加工品最好少吃點，這樣才是健康之道。

最後一個訊息
你知道嗎？台灣每六分鐘就有一個人罹患癌症。病從口入是千真萬確的。英文那句You are what you eat 是真的有道理。

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Food scare, toxic starch and more...

The Department of Health衛生署 (DOH) yesterday announced that all retailers零售商, vendors小販 and producers製造商 selling starch-processed foods澱粉加工食品 will from June be required to post a safety certificate安全證明 to prove that their products are free of maleic acid/maleic anhydride.不含順丁烯二酸化澱粉

DOH spokesman發言人 Wang Che-chao (王哲超) said that starting from June, the DOH will demand that vendors and retailers who sell starch-processed foods, including tapioca粉圓, Taiwanese meatballs肉圓, and yam and taro balls芋圓地瓜圓 present a safety certification clearly stating that their products do not contain maleic acid.

Manufacturers製造商 claimed that Wang – a retired high school chemistry teacher taught them how to produce products containing maleic acid as part of ensuring starch-processed foods retain their texture確保加工後製品的Q彈口感. Wang is allegedly被控responsible for inventing a food-processing technique加工技巧 that involves maleic acid.

The chemical化學物品 was added to products including tapioca balls and rice noodles米粉/粄條 to give them more elasticity彈性. A health official said maleic acid is not known to have adverse effects極壞的影響 on human health.