2005年NPR美国国家公共电台九月-Unhappy Meals? Fast-Food Chains Sued for

French fries are indeed a guilty pleasure. One medium serving has 350 calories and 16 grams of fat, but there may be a more sinister¹ ingredient lurking² in your fries a carcinogen, and now California's Attorney General is suing several fast-food companies. From member station KPCC Tamara Keith reports.

An employee dips a metal basket full of frozen patato strips into a vat³ of bubbling hot grease. 30 seconds later, the crisp golden fries are done and ready to eat. College student Cameron Asemi knows he shouldn’t.

But ,you know, I felt like having some fries, it’s been a while, and they were pretty damn good. What Asemi doesn’t know is that, the danger may come from more than calories and fat. A carcinogenic substance known as acrylamide forms in the process of cooking the fries, as it does in other baked and fried products. California's Attorney General recently filed suit against 9 companies including Burger King, McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Frito-Lay, asking that they warn consumers about possible cancer risks from their products. This suit has its roots in California’s Prop⁴ 65 , approved by voters back in 1986. That law requires warnings for products known to contain cancer-causing substances, if the risk is 1 in 100,000 over a life-time of exposure. Americans eat an average of 10 and a half pounds of French fries a year, containing far more acrylamide than what Californian deems an allowable dose. Edward Weil is overseeing the case for the Attorney General's office. He says he believes people really are getting cancer from fries. And that’s enough to require a warning under California law.

If 20 million people in the state of California use a product, then if 1 in every 100,000 of them gets cancer, that’s 200 cases of cancer, if you imagine/ those people all standing⁵ in one place at one time, it would obviously be perceived as a public health tragedy.

Not surprisingly, the makers⁶ of french fries and potatoe/ chips don’t wanna see their products stamped with cancer-warning labels. Kristin Power is Director of State Affairs for the Grocery Manufacturers Association. She questions the cancer risk, because most studies today have been conducted on animals. And Power says acrylamide is everywhere in wheat-bread, cereal, black olives,coffee even prune⁷ juice. When you toast a piece of bread in your home you create acrylamide, when you toast a piece of bread at a restaurant you create acrylamide, so the issue is how that information is given to the consumers in a way that helps them to understand it and helps them to mitigate⁸ risk.

The US Food and Drug Administration has raised similar concerns, saying the risk from acrylamide in food isn’t yet clear, and labels could confuse consumers. But Dale Hattis, a professor at Clark University is researching acrylamide and says the cancer risk is real though not clinically proven in people.

It’s not something that you break the bank or take serious other risks to avoid, but if you can avoid it by reasonable cheap safe measures, then it is not at all unreasonable⁹ to start to do that.

But even if someday fry bags come with health warnings, it may not do much to change eating habits. As college student Cameron Asemi says there are too many warnings already.

Everything today causes cancer pretty much, you know what I’m saying? TV, going out in the sun, life is a bunch of risks. But you know, so there is a lot of things, does't mean I am gonna stop doing it.

Even Edward Weil from the Attorney General's Office says he's eaten some fries since filing the lawsuit¹⁰. He says he just wants consumers to be able to make informed decisions. Or better yet convince industries to change their production process to reduce or remove acrylamide. For NPR news I am Tamara Keith in Sacramento.

1 sinister   

adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的

参考例句：

• There is something sinister at the back of that series of crimes.在这一系列罪行背后有险恶的阴谋。
• Their proposals are all worthless and designed out of sinister motives.他们的建议不仅一钱不值，而且包藏祸心。

2 lurking   

潜在

参考例句：

• Why are you lurking around outside my house? 你在我房子外面鬼鬼祟祟的，想干什么？
• There is a suspicious man lurking in the shadows. 有一可疑的人躲在阴暗中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 vat   

n.(=value added tax)增值税，大桶

参考例句：

• The office is asking for the vat papers.办事处要有关增值税的文件。
• His father emptied sacks of stale rye bread into the vat.他父亲把一袋袋发霉的黑面包倒进大桶里。

4 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 prune   

n.酶干；vt.修剪，砍掉，削减；vi.删除

参考例句：

• Will you prune away the unnecessary adjectives in the passage?把这段文字中不必要的形容词删去好吗？
• It is our job to prune the side branches of these trees.我们的工作就是修剪这些树的侧枝。

8 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

9 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

10 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。