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Colorful Food
http://www.sina.com.cn 2005/06/27 15:26  视听英语Ladder AI杂志

  (Written by Jean; Level: middle)

  For curry lovers out there, it’s time to stop craving the sauce! Studies have shown that curry sauces contain a high level of harmful food colorings, including the notorious FD&C Yellow No. 5. Food colorants are present in almost every processed food product. They are used to enhance the colors of our food. Basically, there are 2 kinds of food colors: artificial and natural.

  Artificial food colorants such as the FD&C Yellow No. 5 (tartrazine, produced from coal tar and other chemicals), which give curry sauce the familiar golden brown color, can be dangerous for human consumption. This particular food colorant has been known to cause heart diseases, cancer and even a breakdown of the nervous system.

  However, in today’s health conscious society, more manufacturers are beginning to use natural food colorants. Natural food colorants mainly come from vegetables, and more often than not, insects. Carmine, which can be found in yoghurts and juice drinks, is actually powdered, dried, red beetles! Not only are these bugs safe for eating, they actually contribute to the well-being of our health. Carmine is rich in calcium and vitamin E.

  Another favorable natural food colorant is beta-carotene. As the name suggests, this natural compound is made from carrot, together with spinach, pumpkin and papaya. Not only does it give our food a bright orange color, it is pro-vitamin A and has in vitro antioxidant properties that prevent chronic diseases.

  So watch out for the coloring labels of the food from the grocery stores. It’s so much healthier to eat bugs than coal tar!

五彩缤纷的食品

  喜爱咖喱的人请注意啦,该停止使用这种调味品了!研究表明,咖喱酱中含有高浓度的对人体有害的食用色素,其中包括臭名昭著的黄色五号(美国FD&C编号)。现在食用色素几乎被应用到各种加工食品中,用以改善食物的颜色。食用色素主要分为两大类:人工合成色素和天然色素。

  像可以使咖喱呈现出我们所熟悉的金黄色的黄色五号(即酒石黄,从煤焦油和其他化工产品中提炼而成)等人工合成色素对人体是十分有害的。现在已经知道,这种特殊的食用色素会导致心脏病、癌症,甚至神经系统衰弱。

  然而,在当今这个日益关注健康的社会中,越来越多的厂家开始采用天然食用色素。天然食用色素主要来源于蔬菜,也常从昆虫处获得。我们在酸奶和果汁中看到的胭脂红,实际上是干胭脂虫的粉末!这些昆虫不仅食用安全,而且有益于人体健康。胭脂红中含有丰富的钙和维生素E。

  另一种安全的天然食用色素是β胡萝卜素。正如其名字所暗示的一样,这种天然色素主要是从胡萝卜、菠菜、南瓜和番木瓜中提炼出来的。它不仅能使食物呈现出明亮的桔黄色,也是维生素A的前趋物,含有能预防慢性疾病的抗氧化物质。

  因此,请务必留意杂货店里花花绿绿的食品标签,因为吃昆虫要比吃煤焦油健康得多!

  curry n. 咖哩粉

  crave v. 渴望

  sauce n. 沙司;调味汁

  colorant n. 着色剂

  breakdown n. 崩溃

  yoghurt n. 酸乳酪

  carrot n. 胡萝卜

  spinach] n. 菠菜

  chronic adj. 慢性的

  grocery n. <美>食品杂货店


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