食物標籤:罐裝食物說明什麼?

Food labelling: What does it say on the tin?

7 July 2011 Last updated at 10:51 GMT

Source: By Denise Winterman BBC News Magazine

The complicated job of reading food labels is set to get easier thanks to a groundbreaking EU deal, but what are the key things that campaigners want people to look out for?

感謝一個突破性歐盟協議的設置，讓閱讀食品標籤這項複雜的工作變得更加容易，但社會工作者希望人們尋找出關鍵的事情是什麼？

After years of argument, fierce lobbying and heated debate, the EU has agreed to bring in uniform food labelling across the 27 member countries. The rules mean labels on supermarket shelves will have to spell out energy content along with fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, sugar, protein and salt levels.

經過多年的爭論，激烈的遊說和熱烈的辯論，歐盟已同意跨越27個成員國一個統一的食品標籤。該規則表示超市貨架上的標籤將標寫出能量包括脂肪，飽和脂肪，碳水化合物，糖，蛋白質和鹽的含量水準。

But it could take up to five years for the harmonised labels to hit the shelves, which in many cases leaves the consumer with the often puzzling "big four" - energy, protein, carbohydrate and fat. What they actually tell us is open to debate. Take a single figure for carbohydrates, what does it tell a person about sugar content? Not very much - and that is how some companies like it, say some.
 

但它從標籤協調到上到貨架可能花費五年時間，因在許多情況下，消費者往往對 “四大” - 能量，蛋白質，碳水化合物和脂肪感到令人費解。實際上他們只告訴我們什麼是公開辯論。以單一碳水化合物數字來說，它如何告訴一個人對糖含量的多寡？不很多 – 有些說，這也是一些公司為何喜歡它的原因。

"Certain sections of the food industry want to muddy the waters," says Alan Maryon-Davis, professor of public health at Kings College London. "It benefits them if they're not too clear and so they label food in a way that can be misleading."

“在食品工業中的某些確切部分要攪混一池水，” 倫敦國王學院，公共健康學教授 Alan Maryon-Davis 說：“如果他們不是太清楚，他們可能會在標籤的食品產生誤導的方式，這反而對他們有益。”

Many food manufacturers already list all the nutritional content the EU is now demanding. The problem in the UK is different systems are used, including the traffic light system and Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA).

許多食品製造商已經列出歐盟現在所要求的營養成分。英國的問題是使用不同的系統，包括交通燈系統和（GDA）每日食物攝取量指引。

"The very thing that is supposed to help you make a choice simply confuses you," says Katharine Jenner, a nutritionist with World Action On Salt and Health (Wash).

So why is it so difficult to work out what is in the food we buy?

“那些應該是幫助您做出選擇的事反而變成混淆你的元兇，”世界食鹽與健康（洗淨）行動組織的營養師凱瑟琳詹納說：。

那麼，在了解我們買的食品是什麼為什麼是如此艱難的工作？

Energy 能量

It usually tops any food label - and can also be the start of consumer confusion.

When we eat food we convert it into energy which is used to perform bodily functions such as breathing, circulating blood, moving muscles and maintaining body temperature. This can be written in kilojoules, kilocalories and Calories - or all of them.

在任何食品標籤它通常在上方 - 也可以是消費者混淆的開始。

當我們吃下食物它會藉由執行的身體機能，如呼吸，血液循環，移動肌肉和保持體溫轉換成能量。這可以寫成千焦耳，千卡、卡路里 - 或全部。

Food is converted into energy

食物轉化成能量

Kilocalories (kcal) equivalent to 4.184 kilojoules (kJ). A kilocalorie can also be written as a Calorie - the capital "C" distinguishes it from the calories used in science.

The reason both measurements are put on labels is because they are used in different countries, says the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF). Also children often use kj while adults use kcal. Any confusion is the fault of the different measurements countries use, rather than the food industry.

千卡（kcal）相當於 4.184千焦（KJ）。也可以被寫入一個大卡熱量 – 用大寫字母“C”以區別用在科學名稱的卡路里。

英國營養基金會（BNF）說，標籤上並列兩種測量的原因，是因為他們使用在不同的國家。此外，兒童經常使用KJ而成年人使用千卡。各國使用不同的測量的標準數字造成混淆的過失，比食品行業有過之而無不及。

Sugars are carbohydrates, but not everyone knows it. This lack of understanding means companies can disguise the amount of sugar there is in a product by not breaking down the figure to show sugar content. A single carbohydrate figure also includes starchy carbohydrates.

糖是碳水化合物，但並不是每個人都知道這一點。缺乏這種理解意味著企業可以偽裝糖的數字顯示以不打破在產品中的含糖量。一個單一的碳水化合物的數字還包括澱粉類碳水化合物。

Sugars are carbohydrates
糖是碳水化合物

"People think of carbohydrates as stodge and often don't link them to sugars," says Prof Maryon-Davis.

Maryon-Davis 教授說：“人們認為，碳水化合物是飽食類食物而往往不和糖產生鏈接。”

"Certain sectors of the food industry are rather sneaky about this and don't break down the figure to show sugar content, but it's a figure that really should be there.

"It's important that we know how much sugar we are consuming and too often it's not clear to the average consumer."

 “食品工業的某些部門，寧願這樣鬼鬼祟祟不打破此意義以顯示糖的含量，且它確時有一個數字在。

“重要的是，我們知道多少糖被消耗，但一般普通消費者卻不清楚。”

Fat 脂肪

Fat is fat surely? Not exactly. Some types of fat particularly need to be consumed in moderation.

脂肪真的是脂肪？不完全是。某些類型的脂肪，特別是需要適度消耗。

Too much saturated fat is bad for you

太多的飽和脂肪是對你不好

Too much saturated fat is linked to heart disease while reasonable amounts of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can help lower cholesterol.

But too often the fat content is not broken down in this way. It makes choosing a healthier option much more difficult.

"Shoppers have small decision times when they are in a store," says, from the Centre for Food Policy at City University London. "They are choice editing and need quick, easy information to do that."

太多的飽和脂肪與心臟疾病有關連，而單元不飽和脂肪酸和多元不飽和脂肪的合理數量，可以幫助降低膽固醇。

但往往脂肪含量不分解這種方式。這使得選擇一個健康的選擇更加困難。

倫敦城市大學食品政策研究中心Dr David Barling說：“消費者在一家商店購物只有很少的時間決定，從。“他們選擇編輯和需要快捷，方便的信息來做到這一點。”

sodium 鈉

We are always being told to reduce our salt intake and not exceed 6g a day, but it's not so easy to work out how much you're eating. For a start salt content is not the same as sodium content and that's all some labels list.

You need to do the maths but not everyone knows that - or what the calculation is. If the label gives the sodium content, multiply by 2.5 to get the amount of salt. So 6g of salt is equivalent to about 2.4g of sodium.

我們總是被告知要減少我們的食鹽攝入量且一天不超過6克，但測量你吃多少不是那麼容易的工作。首先鹽含量和鈉含量是不相同，但標籤列表卻一樣。

您需要做數學運算，​​但不是每個人都知道 - 或如何計算。如果標籤上給出了鈉的含量，乘以2.5則得到食鹽量。因此，鹽6克相當於鈉2.4克。

Adults shouldn't exceed 6g of salt a day

成人每日食鹽量應不超過6克

In the past companies have used sodium as a way to hide just how much salt is in a product, says Jenner.

"Some companies have hidden behind the sodium label for years," she says. "But public health messages in the UK all talk about salt, so it can get confusing.

"Showing the salt content is vital. Until food manufacturers start taking more salt out of food it's down to us to control our intake. At the moment there is so much salt in food and the only way to cut down is by comparing labels."

Guideline Daily Amount (GDA）

詹納說，過去公司已經使用鈉作為一種隱藏產品含有多少鹽分的方式。

“有些公司多年來運用鈉標籤來隱藏，”她說。“但在英國公共健康信息的所有談論都有關於鹽，所以引起混亂。

“含鹽量的顯示是重要。直到食品生產商開始在食物取出更多的鹽分，它的下降讓我們控制我們的攝入量。目前食物中的含鹽量很多，唯一降低的方式是比較標籤標籤。”

Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs) 每日營養攝取量指引（GDA）

AGDAs are guidelines for an average person of a healthy weight and level of activity, but the problem is it's hard to know what average is and where you stand in comparison. If you have a sedentary job or don't exercise regularly it's likely you should eat less than the 2,500 Calories recommended for a man, 2,000 for a woman and 1,800 for a child.

GDAS可讓一般人能有一個健康的體重和活動水平的指引，但問題是很難知道什麼是平均，即您的立場是身在何處比較。如果你是屬於久坐型的工作，或不常運動，那很可能你一日建議的卡路里攝取量-男性建議 2500卡路里，女性2,000卡路里和幼童1,800卡路里。

"The GDAs are based on an average adult and very few of us are an average adult," says Prof Maryon-Davis. "Some of us are fat, some thin, some exercise, some don't, some have high blood pressure and others are diabetic."

Maryon-Davis 教授說，“”GDAS使用量的基礎是建立在平均成人上，但我們很少是這樣的成年人平均。“我們有些人是肥胖的，有些瘦弱，一些經常運動鍛煉，有的則沒有，有的有高血壓和其他人有糖尿病。”

Sometimes food companies also put the GDA for an adult on a product that is clearly aimed at children, he says. "It's very misleading and they know it."

But while it's not a perfect system, it does give people a quick reference point. "It would be impossible to break things down to an individual level," says the BNF. It allows people to do a quick comparison, which is what's needed in the supermarket."

他說，有時食品公司把成人所用的GDA也針對兒童的產品進行。“這是非常誤導，他們也知道這一點。”

但是，儘管它不是一個完美的系統，它會給人一種快速的參考點。“這將是不可能去打破個體水平的東西，”BNF說。它能允許人們在超市需要什麼做一個快速的比較。“

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