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1、食品公司与减肥斗士食品公司与减肥斗士五家业内领先的食品公司采取了一项方案，就是在其投入英国市场的食品上作出标注，力图堵住那些说他们鼓励肥胖的批评人士的嘴。不过，消费者团体仍然不开心。食品业会像之前的烟草一样，被卷入一场关乎健康的诉讼之中吗？KEEPING fit requires a combination of healthy eating and regular exercise. On the second of these at least, the worlds food companies can claim to be setting a good example: they h
2、ave been working up quite a sweat in their attempts to fend off assaults by governments, consumer groups and lawyers who accuse them of peddling products that encourage obesity. This week saw the unveiling of another industry initiative: five leading food producersDanone, Kellogg, Nestl, Kraft and P
3、epsiCointroduced a labelling scheme for the British market which will show “guideline daily amounts” for calories, fats, sugar and salt on packaging. The new labels will start to appear on the firms crisps, chocolate bars, cheese slices *and the like2 over the next few months. A number of other food
4、 giants, such as Cadbury Schweppes and Masterfoods, have already started putting guideline labels on their products.将健康的饮食习惯和经常性的锻炼二者结合才可以让身体保持健康。至少就第二点而言，全球的食品公司可以说是树立了一个很好的典范：为了避开政府、消费者团体以及律师们的抨击指责食品公司四处兜售促进肥胖的产品，他们已经累得大汗淋漓了。本周，食品业的另一举措也公诸于世：五家业内领先的食品厂商Danone, Kellogg, Nestl, Kraft 以及 PepsiCo在英国市场
5、实施了一项商品标注计划，即在包装上标明卡路里（热量） 、脂肪、糖和盐的“每日摄入量指南” 。在接下来的几个月里，这些食品公司的土豆条、巧克力棒、干酪片等等包装上将开始出现这类新标注。其它许多食品业巨头如 Cadbury Schweppes 和 Masterfoods 也已经着手在其产品上加入指导性标记。The food companies say doing this will empower consumers, allowing them to make informed decisions about which foods are healthy. （1）But consumer gr
6、oups have cried foul. They point out that the Food Standards Agency, a government watchdog, is due to recommend a different type of labelling scheme next month: a “traffic light” system using colours to tell consumers whether products have low, medium or high levels of fat, salt and the like. The fo
7、od firms, they say, have rushed to introduce their own, fuzzier guidelines first in a cynical attempt to undermine the governments planwhich they fear might hurt their sales. In consumer tests, the traffic light performed better than rival labelling schemes.这些食品公司说，这么做可以让消费者在确定何种食品为健康食品时心知肚明。但是消费者团体
8、大声疾呼食品公司此举纯属犯规，他们指出，作为政府监督机构，食品标准局应该在下个月推出一项不同的标注措施“红绿灯”方法，亦即应用不同颜色，提醒消费者食品的脂肪、糖、盐分等含量是低、中等还是高。他们说，食品公司突然率先采用他们自定的那些模糊指南，是对政府计划的恣意破坏，他们害怕政府的计划会让他们的产品卖不出去。对消费者进行调查后显示， “红绿灯”方法比食品公司的标注方案效果要好。Nevertheless, the food companies argue that the traffic-light system is too simplistic and likely to scare peop
9、le away from certain products that are fine if consumed in moderation, or in conjunction with plenty of exercisewhich most observers, including the medical profession, agree is crucial for anyone wanting to stay in shape. They also point out that they have competitors to worry aboutnamely the big su
10、permarket chains with their own-label products. Last April, Tesco, the biggest of these, announced that it was rejecting the traffic-light system in favour of a less stark “signposting” approach. Its rivals fear that adopting colour-coding could put them at a competitive disadvantage.然而，食品公司辩称， “红绿灯
11、”方法过于简单，某些产品会因此吓跑消费者，而这些产品如果食用适量或者结合充分锻炼，对人都是十分有益的，而且包括医学专家在内的大多数观察人士都认为，这些食品对于任何想要保持好体形的人而言都至关重要。同时，他们还指出，他们要顾及一些竞争者，也就是那些对产品加上各自标注的大型超市连锁店的做法。去年四月，最大一家超市连锁店 Tesco宣布，他们反对采用“红绿灯”方法，取而代之的是一种更为灵活的“路标”法。因此，食品公司担心，若采用颜色编码（也就是红绿灯法） ，会令他们在竞争中处于劣势。Better labelling has become an important weapon of the food
12、 giants armoury as they fight back against their critics. In October 2005 McDonalds, the worlds largest fast-food company, said it would start printing nutritional facts on the packaging of its burgers and fries, including the fat, salt, calorie and carbohydrate content. Before that, information abo
13、ut （2）big-sellers such as the Big Mac, which contains 30g of fat, could only be found on the firms website or in leaflets.在食品业巨头们回击批评意见的过程中，更好的标注方式已经成为他们“武器库”中的一个“杀手锏” 。2005 年 10 月 1 日，世界最大快餐公司麦当劳称，公司将在汉堡包和炸薯条包装上印上营养常识，包括脂肪、盐分、热量以及碳水化合物含量。此前，人们只能从食品公司的网站或宣传品上看到一些销路好的食品有关信息，比如含有 30 克脂肪的 Big Mac。But l
14、abelling is not enough; the food firms know they must also offer healthier fare. McDonalds has introduced salads and fruit to its menus. Kraft and others have brought out low-carbohydrate ranges. Last year, McDonalds even announced a sporty makeover for Ronald McDonald, its mascot clown, in a bid to
15、 encourage children to be more active. But some in the industry suspect that consumers are keener on seeing （3）lighter, healthier meals on the menu than they are on actually buying and eating them; such products are not what the industry calls “（4）business builders”. That said, some of Nestls more n
16、utritional products, like its PowerBar range for athletes, enjoy higher margins and growth than its traditional fare.不过，标注还不够；食品公司清楚，他们还必须生产出更加健康的食品。麦当劳公司已将沙拉和水果引入了它的点餐单之中，Kraft跟其它公司也制造出了一系列低碳水化合物食品。去年，麦当劳甚至还宣布要对它的小丑吉祥物麦当劳叔叔进行翻新改造，使其具有运动型外表，以鼓励孩子们更为活泼。但是某些业内人士对此提出质疑，认为消费者更渴望在点餐单上看到不加色素、比较健康的膳食，而不会真地去买来吃；这类食品并非是产业中所谓的“商业增洁剂” 。这么说来，雀巢公司生产的某些更富营养的食品，比如运动员专用的 PowerBar 系列，要比其传统食品能带来更高的利润及增长。Wobbling all over the world全球食品业正经受震荡The pressure on the industry is most acute i
