003《经济学家》读译参考之三：食品公司与减肥斗士.doc

1、 经济学家 读译参考 Translated 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 e

2、ncourage 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 nut

3、ritional 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

4、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 in America, which leads the world in obesity. The proportion of Americans characterised as overweight has risen steadily from 47% (（

5、5）bad enough in itself) in the late 1970s to around two-thirds, including over 30% who are clinically obese. Fast-food chains American sales grew from about $6 billion in 1970 to an estimated $134 billion in 2005. Eric Schlosser, author of “Fast Food Nation”, an 经济学家 读译参考 Translated & Edited by Chen

6、 JilongPage 3 of 4influential book attacking the industry, has pointed out that Americans spend more on fast food than they do on higher education, PCs or new carsworrying, when a single meal at a KFC of less than a pound-weight of food plus a large Pepsi can top 1,600 calories, not far short of the

7、 daily intake recommended by the government for adults doing only “light physical activity”.肥胖人数居世界首位的美国食品业承受的压力最大。上世纪 70 年代末期，美国人中超重人口所占比例从47%（这个数字本身已经糟糕透了）逐步增长到大约三分之二，其中包括 30%以上临床肥胖症患者，而美国快餐连锁店的销售额则从 1970 年的 60 亿美元增加到 2005 年的大约 1340 亿美元。旨在抨击快餐业、颇具影响力的快餐国度一书作者埃里克施罗瑟曾指出，美国人吃快餐花的钱要比花在高等教育、个人电脑或者买新汽车上

8、的钱多。令他感到担忧的是，在肯德基快餐店光吃一顿不到一磅重的餐点，再喝一大杯百事可乐，摄入热量就可能超过 1600 卡路里，这比美国政府为仅从事“轻度体力活动”的成人所推荐的每日摄取量并不低多少。 （言下之意，一餐就摄取如此多热量，况乎一日三餐？）（6）Where the United States leads, others are following. In the European Union, up to 27% of men are considered to be obese, and almost a quarter of all children are deemed over

9、weight. Britain, with its love of burgers and packaged meals, is seen as following closest on Americas heels, but the rate of obesity has started to swell on the continent too. Some 11% of the adult population of France were obese in 2003, up from 8% in 1997 (the actual level may be higher still sin

10、ce the figures are based on polls asking people if they are fat, and （7）self-reporting produces underestimates). France has *latched on to3 the fast-food culture: it is one of the biggest and most profitable European markets for McDonalds.凡是有美国带头的地方，别国都会亦步亦趋。在欧盟国家，高达 27%的男性被认为患有肥胖症，几乎四分之一的儿童则被认为体重超常

11、。爱吃汉堡包和打包食物的英国被看作是跟美国最贴近的“跟屁虫” ，不过其“肥胖队伍”同样开始日益壮大。在法国，成人患肥胖症的比率从 1997 年的 8%一下子增加到 2003年的 11%（由于统计数主要基于问卷调查，因此实际水平可能更高自己说自己的情况往往导致低估实际水平嘛） 。法国已经领悟了快餐文化的真谛：它就是麦当劳公司在欧洲最大、最赚钱的市场之一。No wonder, then, that the past few years have been bad for food companies (8)in image termsand terrible for the fast-food l

12、ot. Attacks on the industry have changed the psychological climate in which it operates, and they may yet change the legislative climate too. So far, lawsuits brought on health-and-safety grounds have been more of a warning than a general threat. In 2003 a New York judge dismissed a lawsuit claiming

13、 that McDonalds had misled customers into believing that its food was healthy (though the suit was later partially reinstated). A number of American states have passed “common-sense consumption laws” aimed at deterring obesity cases in local courts. 那么，过去这几年食品公司的日子不太好过，而快餐业就更加糟糕。对食品业的抨击，已经带来了人们消费心理上

14、的变化，或许也还将改变立法。迄今为止，基于健康安全的诉讼更多的是一种警醒，而没有对食品业形成真正的威胁。2003 年，纽约一名法官驳回了一项诉讼，该诉讼声称麦当劳公司误导了消费者，让他们相信其食品是健康的（尽管该诉讼后来又受到部分复议） 。美国一些州还通过了消费常识法，旨在让地方法庭拒绝受理肥胖诉讼案例。Nevertheless, some lawyers still see a similarity between the position of food companies now and that of tobacco companies in the 1960s and 1970s,

15、when private lawsuits paved the way for a co-ordinated attack on “big tobacco” by attorneys-general. Worries about rising obesity rates among children, and fear of subsequent legal actions, have caused companies to （9）scale back their marketing of fatty food and soft drinks to minors.不过，有的律师仍然察觉到目前食

16、品公司的处境与上世纪六、七十年代时的烟草公司有一定的相似之处。当时，众多个人诉讼为后来各州首席检察官针对“烟草业巨头”发动“协同攻击”铺平了道路。各家食品公司关注到儿童肥胖比例正日益增长，并担心被起诉，已经开始逐步缩减针对未成年人的高脂食品和经济学家 读译参考 Translated & Edited by Chen JilongPage 4 of 4软饮料的销售。In several countries, government pronouncements and actions have added to the pressure on the industry. The British g

17、overnments push to introduce traffic-light labelling comes in the wake of a hard-hitting report from the House of Commons Health Select Committee, whose chairman said: “The devastating consequences of the epidemic of obesity are likely to have a profound impact over the next century.” In France, a l

18、aw has been passed to impose a 1.5% tax on the advertising budgets of food companies if they do not encourage healthy eating. The industry may claim, with some justification, that ultimate responsibility for bad diet *rests with4 the individual, and that the amount of exercise you do is just as impo

19、rtant as the amount of food you eat. But as long as governments, lawyers and health campaigners continue to pile on the pressure, it will have to work hard to convince them it is (10)doing its bit to stop people piling on the pounds.有几个国家政府已经发布有关声明并采取了一些举措，这让食品业感到压力倍增。英国国会下院健康特别委员会一份掷地有声的报告，迫使英国政府开始

20、全力引入“红绿灯”标识方案。该委员会主席说：“肥胖症的流行所引发的破坏性后果很可能会对下个世纪产生深远影响。 ”法国也已通过一项法律，拟对不宣扬健康饮食的食品公司征收 1.5%的广告预算税。食品业也许会略显理直气壮地申辩，不良饮食的根本责任应由消费者个人承担，每个人的运动量同进食多少同样重要。不过，只要政府、律师以及健康饮食倡议人士不停止施压，食品业就必须努力让他们确信，为了不让人们变得越来越胖，它正在尽自己的一份绵薄之力。注释：1engulf：席卷、吞没、吞噬2and the like: 等等，诸如此类3latch on to: 明白，了解。latch 的本义为“抓住，占有，插上插销” 。4

21、rest with: 在于，归属于，取决于抛砖引玉：（1） 本句中 cried foul 应该如何翻译合适？这句话笔者译为“大声疾呼食品公司此举纯属犯规”妥当否？难道这里 cry foul 就是比赛场上裁判“喊犯规叫停”？（2） big-sellers 中的 seller 是销售商还是销售商品？big 是指大型的还是销路好的或者其它？（3） light 在这个句子里的意思不应该是“轻的”吧？我猜想应该是“原色的，基色的，浅色的” ，您认为呢？（4） builder 是“建造者”还是“增洁剂”？比较专业，请指教。（5） 我思来想去，也找不出比“这个数字本身就已经糟糕透顶”更好的译法了，或许还真有更好的？（6） Come on, guys! 谁能把这句翻译更为贴切、更为通达呢？（7） 越译越晕，我心里明白这个 self-reporting 的意思，可是到底怎么表达出来才准确呢？（8） in image terms，啥意思？我就不抛砖了，免得砸着自己，呵呵！（9） scale up 按比例增加；scale down 按比例缩减，那么 scale back 呢？我想，应该跟 scale down 差不多吧？（10） do ones bits 我在词典上没有查到相应的短语，不过“bit”一词本身是“少许”之意，我想译为“尽绵薄之力”应当不坏，您看呢？