加州咖啡將貼上致癌警告,這真的值得我們擔心嗎

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，癌症侵襲培根，現在居然又將魔爪伸向了咖啡。加州的咖啡很快就會貼上警告--可能致癌的警告。是的，你沒看錯。加州的咖啡供應商不得不警告客戶，在他們最愛的早晨藥品--額，飲品中，可能會有致癌化學物。

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.

背景知識如下：《時代》雜誌報道，2010年，有毒物質教育和研究委員會（the Council for Education and Research on Toxics）在加利福尼亞州提起訴訟，目的是要求警告咖啡消費者關於咖啡含有丙烯酰胺一事，丙烯酰胺是咖啡豆在烘焙過程中的副產品。本週，咖啡售賣商抗議之後，法官裁定支持這一委員會，這就意味着零售商將在法律上承擔傳遞壞消息的義務。

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.

但情況究竟有多糟糕？因爲我們真的不會放棄咖啡的……是不是？美國癌症協會解釋道：當特定物質以特定方式烹飪時，丙烯酰胺就會形成。在高溫下油炸、烘焙、燒烤會導致糖和植物產品（比如土豆、穀物和咖啡）中的一種氨基酸發生反應，從而導致丙烯酰胺的形成。

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.)

國際癌症研究機構（IARC）將丙烯酰胺稱爲"可能致癌的物質。"（培根和其它加工過的肉類，你可能還記得，被認爲是絕對致癌的物質。）

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."

問題是，我們不是很清楚從食物中攝入丙烯酰胺究竟有多糟糕。"基於動物研究：動物被餵食大量的丙烯酰胺，患了腫瘤，我們知道丙烯酰胺可能致癌的風險，"美國癌症協會副主任醫師J. Leonard Lichtenfeld醫學博士解釋道。"但這不能證明它能導致人類患癌。這只是啓發性的證據。"爲了更好的瞭解，美國癌症協會和其它組織敦促研究員在該領域開展更多實驗，他說道，但目前爲止，"關於在食物中攝入丙烯酰胺會帶來何種影響，還未有完全成熟的人類研究。"