新奇事件簿 食品安全已成国际问题（在线收听）

There is a new and growing danger with the food we eat. Criminal gangs are selling billions of dollars of fake food to supermarkets around the world. The food could be very dangerous. In the past few years, there have been some high-profile scandals. In Britain, tons of horse meat ended up in products that were labeled as beef. British police recently found a product that used cheaper peanut powder instead of almond flour. This could seriously harm or kill people with peanut allergies. In 2008, six babies died in China after gangs made and sold fake milk powder. Gangs can make a lot of money from fake food. It is also safer than selling drugs for the gangs because the penalties are lower.

我们所吃的食物，现在正面临新的、愈发严重的问题。犯罪团伙将数十亿美元的假货卖到世界各地的超市。这些食品可能很危险。在过去的几年里，发生了一些臭名昭著的丑闻。在英国，大量马肉被贴上了牛肉的标签，在各地售卖。近日，英国警察发现某商品竟然用便宜的花生粉代替杏仁粉。对于那些对花生过敏的人来说，这是十分危险的。在2008年，犯罪分子制售假奶粉，造成中国6名婴儿死亡。犯罪分子通过制售假货，获利颇丰。对于犯罪分子来说，制售假货比贩卖毒品要安全得多。因为处罚比较轻。

The assistant director of Interpol, Michael Ellis, told the BBC that food crime is very similar to the drugs trade. He said: "In my experience, the patterns used by criminals involved in counterfeiting are very similar to those used in the dealing of drugs." He said police in 33 countries showed that food crime is a serious international problem. The police found children's candies that were dyed with a poisonous chemical, 430,000 litres of fake drinks and 22 tons of long-grain rice that was labeled as high-quality basmati rice. The British government said it was a difficult problem to tackle. It said that using technology might be the only way to beat the criminal gangs.

国际刑警组织的局长助理，迈克尔.埃利斯告诉BBC记者，食品犯罪与毒品交易十分相似。他说，“凭经验来讲，造假的模式与毒品交易中使用的手段十分相似。”他说，33个国家的警察都表示，食品犯罪已成为严重的国际问题。警察发现，儿童的糖果被有毒化学物质染上了颜色。43万公升的假酒以及22吨的长香米被当作高质量的印度香米售卖。英国政府称，这个问题确实很难对付。政府称，科学技术或许是打击犯罪团伙的唯一途径。