First, they came for our bacon, and now they're trying to come for our coffee. Cups of java in California will soon come with a warning-about their potential to cause cancer. Yep, you read that right. Coffee vendors in the Golden State will have to warn customers about a possibly cancer-causing chemical in everyone's favorite morning drug-err, drink.
起初，癌症侵袭培根，现在居然又将魔爪伸向了咖啡。加州的咖啡很快就会贴上警告--可能致癌的警告。是的，你没看错。加州的咖啡供应商不得不警告客户，在他们最爱的早晨药品--额，饮品中，可能会有致癌化学物。
Here's some background: In 2010, the Council for Education and Research on Toxics filed a lawsuit in California with the goal of requiring a warning to coffee consumers about acrylamide, a byproduct of the coffee bean roasting process, Time reported. This week, after protests from coffee vendors, a judge ruled in favor of the Council, meaning retailers will be legally bound to deliver the bad news.
背景知识如下：《时代》杂志报道，2010年，有毒物质教育和研究委员会（the Council for Education and Research on Toxics）在加利福尼亚州提起诉讼，目的是要求警告咖啡消费者关于咖啡含有丙烯酰胺一事，丙烯酰胺是咖啡豆在烘焙过程中的副产品。本周，咖啡售卖商抗议之后，法官裁定支持这一委员会，这就意味着零售商将在法律上承担传递坏消息的义务。
But how bad is it really? Because we're really not about to give up our coffee… are we? Acrylamide is formed when certain foods are cooked in certain ways, the American Cancer Society (ACS) explains. Frying, baking, broiling, and roasting at high temps can all cause a reaction between sugars and an amino acid in plant products like potatoes, grains, and, yes, coffee, that creates the chemical.
但情况究竟有多糟糕？因为我们真的不会放弃咖啡的……是不是？美国癌症协会解释道：当特定物质以特定方式烹饪时，丙烯酰胺就会形成。在高温下油炸、烘焙、烧烤会导致糖和植物产品（比如土豆、谷物和咖啡）中的一种氨基酸发生反应，从而导致丙烯酰胺的形成。
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) dubs acrylamide a "probable human carcinogen." (Bacon and other processed meats, as you might recall, were deemed definitely carcinogenic.)
国际癌症研究机构（IARC）将丙烯酰胺称为"可能致癌的物质。"（培根和其它加工过的肉类，你可能还记得，被认为是绝对致癌的物质。）
Problem is, we don't really know how bad it is to consume acrylamide in food. "We know it has a risk of causing cancer based on animal studies where they were fed very large amounts of acrylamide and developed tumors," explains J. Leonard Lichtenfeld, MD, deputy chief medical office at ACS. "But that's not proof-positive it causes cancer in humans. It's considered suggestive evidence." To get a better idea, the ACS and other groups have urged researchers to do more studies in this area, he says, but currently, "there is no well-done human study on acrylamide with respect to consumption in food."
问题是，我们不是很清楚从食物中摄入丙烯酰胺究竟有多糟糕。"基于动物研究：动物被喂食大量的丙烯酰胺，患了肿瘤，我们知道丙烯酰胺可能致癌的风险，"美国癌症协会副主任医师J. Leonard Lichtenfeld医学博士解释道。"但这不能证明它能导致人类患癌。这只是启发性的证据。"为了更好的了解，美国癌症协会和其它组织敦促研究员在该领域开展更多实验，他说道，但目前为止，"关于在食物中摄入丙烯酰胺会带来何种影响，还未有完全成熟的人类研究。"
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