Soy Sauce ‘Double Standards’
Stir Massive Controversy in China
A popular Chinese food company has found itself at the center of a social media storm during the National Day holiday, after facing accusations of implementing “double standards” in its domestic and overseas products.
一家受欢迎的中国食品公司在国庆假期期间处于社交媒体风暴的中心，此前该公司面临对其国内外产品实施“双重标准”的指控。
The controversy began last week, when users on Chinese social media noted that soy sauce made by Haitian Flavoring and Food Co. Ltd. — a hugely successful condiment maker based in the southern city of Foshan — contains fewer ingredients abroad.
争议始于上周，当时中国社交媒体上的用户指出，总部位于南方城市佛山的海天调味食品有限公司生产的酱油在出口国外的产品里含有的成分较少。海天调味食品有限公司是一家非常成功的调味品生产商。
-
base · v以…为据点(或大本营等)；把(总部等)设在：to use a particular city, town, etc. as the main place for a business, holiday / vacation, etc.比如说：They decided to base the new company in York. 他们决定将新成立的公司总部设在约克郡。
The version of the product sold in Japan contains only natural ingredients such as water, soybeans, and wheat, while the Chinese version of the sauce contains a number of additives, including flavor enhancers, preservatives, and sweeteners, according to videos posted online.
根据网上发布的视频，在日本销售的产品版本只含有水、大豆和小麦等天然成分，而中国版本的酱油含有多种添加剂，包括增味剂、防腐剂和甜味剂。
-
flavor enhancers, preservatives, and sweeteners, 增味剂、防腐剂和甜味剂
Though there is no suggestion that Haidian’s products are unsafe, these posts went massively viral over the weekend, fueled by Chinese consumers’ longstanding food safety concerns and suspicions that brands use inferior ingredients in the Chinese market.
尽管没有迹象表明海淀的产品是不安全的，但这些帖子在周末被广泛传播，原因是中国消费者长期以来对食品安全的担忧，以及怀疑食品品牌在中国市场中使用劣质原料。
-
suspicion n.怀疑; 嫌疑:a feeling you have that someone is probably guilty of doing something wrong or dishonest，比如说：•I can't say for definite who did it, but I certainly have my suspicions .我不能确切说是谁干的，但我肯定有怀疑的对象。•Police suspicions were confirmed when the stolen property was found in his flat.失窃物品在他公寓里找到，警方的怀疑得到了证实。
-
inferior 〔与其他人或物相比〕差的，次的;not good, or not as good as someone or something else，比如说：•wine of inferior quality劣质葡萄酒•inferior goods劣质商品
-
【短语搭配：inferior to】，举个例子：•I always felt slightly inferior to her.我总感觉比她稍逊一筹。
-
这个词汇的反义词为superior，表示· (在品质上)更好的；占优势；更胜一筹：
The term “hex technology” — originally a gaming term referring to the combination of magic and technology, which is now used in China to describe food companies’ use of additives in food products — has been trending on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, receiving over 3 billion views as of Thursday afternoon.
“海克斯科技”这个词最初是一个游戏术语，指的是魔法和科技的结合，现在在中国被用来描述食品公司在食品中使用添加剂。截至周四下午，这个词已经在抖音上火了起来，获得了超过30亿次观看。
Chinese social media is filled with posts by users who are checking the ingredient lists of the food they have stored at home. Many other viral posts feature people searching for “zero-additive” products.
中国的社交媒体上充斥着用户的帖子，他们正在查看自己储存在家里的食物的成分表。许多其他广为传播的帖子则显示人们搜索“零添加剂”产品。
Haitian — a household name in China that sells over 100 varieties of condiments and generated revenues in excess of 25 billion yuan ($3.3 billion) in 2021 — has struggled to allay customers’ concerns, despite issuing two statements defending its actions.
海天这个品牌在中国家喻户晓，销售100多种调味品，2021年创造的收入超过250亿元人民币(33亿美元)，尽管发布了两份声明为自己的行为辩护，但它还没能很好消除消费者的担忧。
-
-
【熟词僻义】issue这里不是名词“事情”的意思，而是用作动词表示发表〔声明〕; 颁布，发出〔命令、警告等〕:to officially make a statement, give an order, warning etc，比如说：•Silva issued a statement denying all knowledge of the affair.西尔瓦发表声明，宣称对此事一无所知。•a warning issued by the Surgeon General（美国）卫生局局长发出的警告
Last Friday, the company released an initial statement via the Chinese social platform Weibo, saying that all its products comply with China’s Food Safety Law and are subject to supervision and inspection by Chinese authorities.
上周五，该公司通过中国社交平台微博发布了一份初步声明，称其所有产品都符合中国的食品安全法，并接受中国当局的监督和检查。
-
comply with· 遵从；服从；顺从：to obey a rule, an order, etc.比如说：They refused to comply with the UN resolution. 他们拒绝遵守联合国的决议。
After this failed to dampen the controversy, Haitian issued a second statement on Tuesday evening, in which it said that food additives are widely used in food manufacturing in countries around the world, and that each country has clear regulatory standards regarding food additives.
在这未能平息争议后，海天于周二晚间发布了第二份声明，称食品添加剂在世界各国的食品制造中被广泛使用，每个国家都有明确的食品添加剂监管标准。
-
dampen v.抑制，减退〔热情、积极性等〕:to make something such as a feeling or activity less strong，比如说：•The light rain dampened the crowd's enthusiasm.小雨使观众的热情减退了。•Raising interest rates might dampen the economy.提高利率可能会抑制经济发展。
“It is a misunderstanding to simply think that there are fewer food additives in foreign products, or to think that products with additives are not good,” the company said.
该公司表示:“简单地认为外国产品中的食品添加剂较少，或者认为有添加剂的产品不好，这是一种误解。”
用户中心
