好英语网什么是健康食物？我们的认知可能过时了
The Food and Drug Administration unveiled a new proposal on Wednesday that would change the criteria for which packaged foods the agency considers “healthy,” in an attempt to modernize its approach to nutrition and reduce the burden of diet-related diseases.
美国食品药品监督管理局（简称FDA）周三公布了一项新提案，将改变该机构认定包装食品“健康”的标准，旨在令该机构处理营养信息的方式现代化，并减少与饮食有关的疾病负担。
Currently, about 5 percent of all packaged foods are labeled “healthy,” according to the agency. The definition, which was set in 1994, allows for food manufacturers to add the word “healthy” to their products, as long as the products have limited amounts of total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium and provide at least 10 percent of the daily value of one or more of the following nutrients: vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron, protein or dietary fiber. (Seafood, game meat and raw fruits and vegetables have slightly different criteria.) In 2016, the F.D.A. updated its guidelines to allow for some foods to contain more total fat and to include some that provide at least 10 percent of the daily value of vitamin D or potassium.
据该机构称，目前，大约5%的包装食品都标有“健康”标签。该标签于1994年被定义，允许食品制造商在其产品中添加“健康”标签，只需产品的总脂肪、饱和脂肪、胆固醇和钠含量较少，并且以下一种或多种营养素的含量至少为每日摄入量的10%：维生素A、维生素C、钙、铁、蛋白质或膳食纤维。（海鲜、野味和新鲜蔬果的标准略有不同。）2016年，FDA更新了指导原则，允许一些食物含有更多的总脂肪，并纳入一些提供至少10%每日摄入量的维生素D或钾的食物。
Crucially, there is currently no limit on added sugars under the current definition — an omission that the F.D.A. believes is inconsistent with today’s nutrition science.
至关重要的是，现有定义没有对添加糖进行限制——FDA相信这一遗漏不符合今天的营养科学。
“The old rule was really outdated — you could create any kind of Frankenstein food that met the nutrient criteria and label it as healthy,” said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and professor of nutrition at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy in Boston. “This is a major advance.”
“旧规则真的已经过时了——你可以胡乱拼凑出任何符合营养标准的食品，并给它加上健康的标签，”波士顿塔夫茨·弗里德曼营养科学与政策学院的心脏病学家和营养学教授达留什·莫扎法里安博士说。“这次是一个重大进步。”
The proposed rule, which the agency announced to coincide with Wednesday’s White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health, introduces a new limit on added sugars — in general, no more than 2.5 grams per serving, although this can vary depending on the food. It also restricts the amount of sodium to no more than 230 milligrams per serving and provides limits for saturated fat, which can similarly vary depending on the food, the F.D.A. said.
该机构在周三的“饥饿、营养与健康”白宫会议上宣布的拟议规则对添加糖引入了新的限制——一般来说，每人份食物不超过2.5克，尽管这可能因食物而异。FDA说，它还将钠的含量限制在每人份不超过230毫克，并规定了饱和脂肪的限制，饱和脂肪同样会因食物而异。
A six-ounce serving of yogurt, for example, would not qualify as “healthy” under the new rule if it contained more than 2.5 grams, or 5 percent of the daily value, of added sugars; a frozen dinner of salmon, green beans and brown rice would not qualify as “healthy” if it contained more than four grams of saturated fat.
例如，根据新规定，一份六盎司（约合170克——译注）的酸奶，如果含有超过2.5克，即每日摄入量5%的添加糖，则不符合“健康”的标准；如果一份三文鱼、青豆和糙米速冻套餐含有超过4克的饱和脂肪，则不符合“健康”的标准。
The new definition aims to encourage healthy eating by prioritizing a mix of vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy, proteins and certain oils, including vegetable oils. A “healthy” food would need to contain a minimum amount of at least one of those food groups and be under the proposed limits for saturated fats, sodium and added sugars. Raw whole fruits and vegetables would automatically qualify.
新定义旨在通过优先混搭蔬菜、水果、谷物、乳制品、蛋白质和某些油类（包括植物油）来鼓励健康饮食。“健康”食品需要至少包含这些食品类别中的一种，并且低于饱和脂肪、钠和添加糖的建议限值。未加工的完整蔬果将自动符合标准。
“Those criteria will eliminate vast swaths of the supermarket from being eligible for the healthy logo,” said Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University.
纽约大学营养学、食品研究和公共卫生学教授马里恩·内斯尔说：“这些标准将使超市里的大批食品无法获得健康标签。”
Many sugary cereals, granola bars, highly sweetened yogurts and white breads, which might currently qualify as “healthy” under the existing definition, would be eliminated under the new rule.
根据现有定义，许多含糖谷物、格兰诺拉麦片棒、高糖酸奶和白面包目前可能符合“健康”标准，但在新规则下将不再符合。
Water, avocados, nuts and seeds, fatty fish like salmon, and certain oils — which do not currently qualify as “healthy” — could earn the distinction under the new guidelines.
水、牛油果、坚果和种籽、三文鱼富含脂肪的鱼类和某些油类目前不符合“健康”的标准，但在新指南下可以获得例外豁免。
The new definition of “healthy” emphasizes whether a food fits into a healthy dietary pattern overall, as opposed to just focusing on a food’s individual nutrients. Salmon, for example, which isn’t considered “healthy” under the current definition because it is high in fat, would earn the new “healthy” distinction because it is rich in beneficial omega-3 fatty acids and protein and low in saturated fat and cholesterol.
新的“健康”定义强调食物是否在整体上符合健康的饮食模式，而不仅仅关注食物的个别营养成分。例如，根据目前的定义，三文鱼因脂肪含量高，并不被认为是“健康”的，但在新规则下，它会得到“健康”豁免，因为它富含有益的omega-3脂肪酸和蛋白质，并且饱和脂肪和胆固醇含量低。
“The F.D.A. has been really behind the times when it comes to making stricter guidelines for these things,” said Dr. Selvi Rajagopal, an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine and a diplomat of the American Board of Obesity Medicine. “When I read this, I thought, OK, this is good. I was pleased.”
“FDA在为这些事情制定更严格的指导原则方面确实落后于时代，”约翰霍普金斯医学院医学助理教授、美国肥胖医学委员会大使塞尔维·拉贾戈帕博士说。“当我读到新规则时，我想，嗯，这很好。我很满意。”
Typically, after the F.D.A. proposes a rule, the agency seeks commentary from outside health experts and the general public before the rule can go into effect, said Dr. Peter Lurie, executive director and president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The process can take a year or more, he added.
公共利益科学中心执行主任兼主席彼得·卢里博士说，通常，在FDA在提出一项规则后，该机构会在规则生效之前征求外部卫生专家和公众的意见。他还说，这个过程可能需要一年或更长时间。
While he applauded some aspects of the proposed update, especially the limit on added sugars, Dr. Lurie stressed that there is a fundamental problem with the label, which as with the current label, would remain voluntary. Consumers might erroneously think that any foods without a “healthy” label are automatically unhealthy. “It’s not really helpful in that respect,” he said. “It allows the industry to decide what to convey to the consumer, as opposed to providing the consumer with what they would clearly want.”
虽然他对新提议的某些方面表示赞赏，特别是对添加糖的限制，但卢里博士强调，该标签存在一个根本问题，它与现有标签一样，仍基于商家自愿。消费者可能会错误地认为，没有“健康”标签的食品都是不健康的。“它在这方面并没有起到真正的作用，”他说。“它允许行业决定向消费者传达什么，而不是提供消费者明确想要的东西。”
Instead, Dr. Lurie and others in the nutrition field are pushing for new standardized, mandatory nutrition labels placed on the front of food packages, which the F.D.A. is currently looking into.
相反，卢里博士和营养领域的其他人正在推动在食品包装正面强制添加新的标准化营养标签，FDA目前正在予以考虑。
In the meantime, the agency hopes that an updated definition will help consumers make better dietary decisions, to help lower the incidence of “diet-related chronic diseases” like cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes. More than 80 percent of people living in the United States aren’t getting enough vegetables, fruit and dairy in their diets, according to the F.D.A.
与此同时，该机构希望更新的定义能帮助消费者做出更好的饮食决定，以帮助降低心血管疾病和II型糖尿病等“与饮食相关的慢性疾病”的发病率。根据FDA的数据，超过80%的美国人在饮食中没有摄入足够的蔬菜、水果和奶制品。
“There’s been so much mixed messaging on what’s healthy and what’s not,” Dr. Rajagopal said. “The average consumer just doesn’t have a baseline.”
“关于什么健康，什么不健康，有太多混淆的说法，”拉贾戈帕博士说。“普通消费者完全没有基准。”