转基因食品的误区

Safety of GMOs

当安(Ann)每个星期买菜的时候，她会寻找购物架上的有机食品。

When Ann does her grocery shopping every week, she would look for organic food from shelves. 

“我其实不知道科学的转基因生物（GMO）是否安全，但我从朋友那里和网上听说这类食品不安全，”安说。“所以我在想，为什么不买有机食品，图个心安？”

“I actually don’t know scientifically whether genetically modified organisms (GMO) are safe or not, but I heard from friends and the internet saying they are unsafe,” says Ann. “So I am thinking, why not buy the organic ones, for the simple reason of having a peace of mind?”

转基因食品的安全性
Safety of GMOs

转基因食品是通过生化技术将一个或多个基因移植到某一生物或动物以达到某种生物特性，如抗病虫害之能力。含基因改造成分的食物大多是玉米，大豆和甜菜。据专家介绍，在美国和加拿大的大多数加工食品含有来自转基因成分的农作物。

Genetic modification of food involves the transfer of one or more genes to a plant or animal through biotechnology to acquire certain traits such as pest resistance. The foods containing GM ingredients are mostly corns, soybeans and sugar beets. According to experts, most processed foods in the United States and Canada contain an ingredient from a GM crop.

食用转基因食品对消费者来说是否安全？加拿大卫生部（Health Canada）对转基因食品的官方立场是，这些食品具有安全性。根据加拿大卫生部的网站介绍，每一转基因食品在进入市场前都会得到充分的安全检测。所有货架上的转基因食品已经全部经过测试并顺利通过检验。

Are GMO foods safe for consumption?  Health Canada's official stance on GM foods is that they are safe for consumption. According to Health Canada website, it has conducted a thorough safety testing of each GMO food before it enters the markets. All the GMOs on the shelves have been tested and approved.

监管机构卫生部的信息显示，这一测试过程全面而且细致，其过程包括从产品种植，到分析它们的成分，直到检测产品在生长过程中是否出现有毒成分。

The testing process is detailed and thorough, according to information from the regulatory agency, which starts from the growing of products to analyzing their composition, as well as detecting any possible toxic ingredients during the process.

根据该机构的网站显示，测试的过程遵循了世界卫生组织（WHO），联合国粮农组织（FAO）及经合组织(OECD)的专家意见和指引。

The testing process follows the experts’ advices and guidelines provided by World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), according to the agency’s website information.

转基因食品：加拿大人和美国人未曾再密切关注
GMOs:  Not a great concern among Canadians and Americans

安不是华裔社区唯一关心转基因食品安全之人士。随着中国食品丑闻大量暴露，任何新产品现市都会引起华裔消费者的警觉。由于假冒食品仍在不断影响消费者的正常生活，许多消费者对食品安全缺乏信心，认为只有从自家后院种植的食品才可以安全食用。

Ann is not the only one from the Chinese community who shows concerns about the safety of the GMO foods. As a slew of food scandals in China are exposed, it would send Chinese consumers on high alert whenever a new type of food appears on the market. As the fake food products continue to wreck havoc on the daily lives of consumers, many of them have limited trust on the food safety, believing that only the foods that are grown from their own backyard are safe.

显然，对消费者来说，通过“修改”基因的转基因食品似乎使食品的安全性受到影响。最终，有关转基因食品会潜在的危害人体健康，包括可能致癌的传言充斥于互联网上，引发了华裔消费者的担心和忧虑。

Apparently, GMOs that have gone through the process of “modifications” seem to have compromised the products’ safety to these consumers.  As a result, the rumours about GMO’s potential damages to human health, including the possibility of causing cancer are flooded on the internet, sparking fears and worries among Chinese consumers. 

但转基因生物并没有引起北美消费者同等程度的关注和担心。据2013年11月进行的一项全国性调查显示，与华裔消费者不同的是，大多数美国人很少注意对转基因食品的争论。

But GMOs are not causing the same level of concerns to North American consumers. According to a national survey conducted in Nov. 2013, unlike Chinese consumers, most Americans pay little attention to the debate over GMOs.

由罗格斯大学（Rutgers University）发布的此次调查显示，超过一半（53％）的被调查人群称他们很少或者根本没有了解过转基因食品，其中四分之一（ 25％）的人说他们从来都没有听说过转基因食品。即使在媒体关注转基因食品需要标识的法规之时，罗格斯大学的研究发现只有约四分之一的美国人认识到现行的法规并不要求对转基因产品进行标识。

The survey, released by researchers at Rutgers University, found that more than half (53 percent) say they know very little or nothing at all about GM foods, and one in four (25 percent) say they have never heard of them. Even with the media attention over the regulatory requirement of labeling of GM foods, the Rutgers study found that only about a quarter of Americans realizes that current regulations do not require GM products to be labeled.

据调查，同等比率的受访者认为对食品是否改造过基因进行标识，应该与食品是否用过激素，农药，或者抗生素，或者是否生长在美国本土含有过敏原等标识一样的重要。

According to the survey, same portions of respondents believe that the labeling information on whether the products contain GM ingredients share a similar level of importance as information about whether the product was grown using hormones, pesticides, or antibiotics, or whether it was grown or raised in the United States and contains allergens.

加拿大人显示了对转基因食品类似的态度。据CBC报道，普通的加拿大消费者对食品基因改造为难题乎没有太多关注。2000至2010年中后期的研究显示，大多数加国人士对此问题并无太强烈看法。

Canadians show a similar attitude towards GOMs. According to CBC report, for the average Canadian consumer, the issue of bioengineered foods barely registers. Studies from the mid- to late-2000s suggested that a majority of people in Canada have no strong views on the matter.

公众误解：那些转基因食品现市
Public myths：availability of GE foods

什么样的转基因食品会出现在美国和加拿大的食品货架上？很多消费者误认为所有类食品都伴有同类转基因食品出售。

What GM foods appear on the grocery shelves in US and Canada? Many consumers mistakenly believe that every single type of food products has its GM counterparts in the supermarkets.

罗格斯大学的调查显示，即使那些表示了解美国超市有转基因食品销售的人们也不清楚存在哪种转基因食品。虽然四分之三的消费者能正确了解到转基因玉米有销售，但一半以上错误的认为转基因西红柿，小麦和鸡肉也有销售。超过40 ％的消费者误以为有转基因苹果和大米在市场上销售，以及超过三分之一的消费者相信转基因三文鱼和转基因橘子可在超市中买到。

According to Rutgers’s survey, even those who say they are aware of the presence of GM foods in American stores are unclear about which foods are available. While three quarters correctly recognized that GM corn products are on store shelves, more than half mistakenly believed that GM tomatoes, wheat and chicken products are in supermarkets. More than 40 percent believe incorrectly that GM apples and rice are on the market, and more than a third believe that GM salmon and GM oranges are currently on offer.

在加拿大消费者当中有同样的误解也就不足为奇了。“这只是钱的问题，”安说。“如果你没有钱，你别无选择，只能购买包括西红柿和鸡蛋到水果和三文鱼等的专基因食品。但如果你手中有钱，为什么不买有机食品呢！”

It is unsurprising that the myths exist among Canadian consumers as well. “It’s just a matter of money,” says Ann. “If you don’t have money, you have no choice but buy the GMOs, from tomatoes and eggs to fruits and salmons. But if you have more disposable money on hand, why not buy their organic version instead.” 

事实上，虽然渥太华已批准数十种转基因作物，除了玉米，油菜，大豆和用于生产白糖的甜菜，大多转基因食品不在加拿大种植或出售。加工和包装含有此类产品，包括经常喂食转基因作物的动物肉类等食品可能都还有转基因成分。

In fact, although Ottawa has approved dozens of GM crops, most are not actually grown or sold in Canada, except for corn, canola, soybeans and the sugar beets used to produce white sugar. Processed and packaged foods that contain those products are likely affected, along with meats from animals that are often fed GM crops.

加拿大也可以进口少量的转基因木瓜，南瓜，棉籽油和使用牛生长激素的牛奶制品。

Canada could also be importing a small amount of GM papaya, squash, cottonseed oil and milk products made with the use of Bovine Growth Hormone.