VOA慢速英語：中國超市在巴西食品安全丑聞后停止銷售巴西牛肉

Chinese Supermarkets Stop Selling Brazilian Meat After Food Safety Scandal

中國超市在巴西食品安全丑聞后停止銷售巴西牛肉

Some of China's largest food suppliers have stopped selling Brazilian beef and poultry. The move comes following a scandal over Brazil's meat processing industry.

中國一些最大的食品供應(yīng)商已經(jīng)停止銷售巴西牛肉和禽肉。此舉發(fā)生在巴西肉類加工業(yè)出現(xiàn)丑聞之后。

Fears over Brazilian meat safety have grown since police accused inspectors of taking bribes to permit the sale of rotten and infected meats.

自從警方指控檢疫人員收受賄賂允許腐爛和感染的肉類銷售以來，對巴西肉類安全性的恐懼已經(jīng)爆發(fā)。

Brazil is the world's largest exporter of beef.

巴西是全球最大的牛肉出口國。

The announcement from the Chinese food suppliers comes days after China temporarily suspended Brazilian meat imports.

在中國臨時停止巴西肉類進口數(shù)日之后，中國食品供應(yīng)商發(fā)布了這份公告。

Sun Art Retail operates 400 Chinese hypermarkets. A spokeswoman for Sun Art said its stores removed Brazilian beef on Monday from two of the country's top meat exporters. Brazilian beef makes up less than 10 percent of Sun Art's beef supply, she said.

高鑫零售經(jīng)營著400家中國大賣場。高鑫零售的一位發(fā)言人表示，該公司賣場周一已經(jīng)將巴西牛肉從該國兩家最大的肉類出口商中排除。她表示，巴西牛肉只占到高鑫零售供應(yīng)量不到10%。

Wal-Mart stores in China have also removed Brazilian meat products from its stores, the Reuters news agency reported. And Germany's Metro has withdrawn Brazilian chicken products from its Chinese stores, a manager said.

路透社報道稱，中國的沃爾瑪超市也已經(jīng)下架了巴西牛肉產(chǎn)品。一位經(jīng)理表示，德國麥德龍超市也已經(jīng)在其中國賣場中下架了巴西牛肉。

Hong Kong, Japan, Canada and Mexico have also announced they were stopping major imports of some Brazilian meat.

香港、日本、加拿大和墨西哥也已經(jīng)宣布停止一些巴西肉類的大量進口。

An economic embarrassment

經(jīng)濟困境

President Michel Temer said the sale of rotten meat was an "economic embarrassment for the country."

特梅爾總統(tǒng)表示，銷售變質(zhì)肉類是該國的一種經(jīng)濟困境。

The Brazilian government has so far barred the exports of meats from 21 plants under investigation.

巴西政府目前已經(jīng)禁止21家接受調(diào)查的工廠的肉類出口。

Brazilian officials on Tuesday tried to calm consumers. They said the recent investigation has found only isolated problems with rotten or infected meat.

巴西官員周二試圖平息消費者怒火。他們表示，最近的調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)變質(zhì)和感染肉類問題是個別問題。

However, the reaction by Chinese food suppliers suggests that the investigation could have a big effect on the world's top meat exporter.

然而，中國食品供應(yīng)商的反應(yīng)表明這次調(diào)查可能會對世界頂級肉類出口商產(chǎn)生重大影響。

Brazil's trade associations for meat producers warned that the scandal could affect employment and the economy. Meat exports make up 15 percent of total exports. Cattle-raising is also an important part of Brazil's culture.

巴西肉類生產(chǎn)商貿(mào)易協(xié)會警告稱，這次丑聞可能會影響到就業(yè)和經(jīng)濟。肉類出口占到巴西總出口的15%。養(yǎng)牛也是巴西文化的重要組成部分。

Sensitive to scandal

對丑聞敏感

China has had its own share of food safety scandals in recent years. Food suppliers want to avoid any possible risks.

中國近年來自身已經(jīng)有過一些食品安全丑聞。食品供應(yīng)商希望避免任何潛在風(fēng)險。

Sun Art's spokeswoman said it removed Brazilian beef from its shelves before the Chinese government formally commented on the issue.

高鑫零售的發(fā)言人表示，在中國政府正式對此問題發(fā)表意見之前，該公司已經(jīng)將巴西牛肉下架。

Brazil is the top supplier of beef to China. Importers must now wait several days before they try to find different meat suppliers. The meat will likely be more expensive than Brazil's.

巴西是中國最大的牛肉供應(yīng)國。進口商現(xiàn)在必須等待數(shù)日才能找到不同的肉類供應(yīng)商。這些肉類可能會比巴西的更貴。

Hong Kong was the second-biggest buyer of Brazilian meat last year. The Hong Kong supermarket chain PARKnSHOP said it had removed all Brazilian pork, beef and chicken from its stores' shelves.

香港去年是巴西牛肉第二大買家。香港百佳連鎖超市表示已經(jīng)將巴西豬肉、牛肉和雞肉下架處理。

PARKnSHOP said in a statement, "To cater for the needs of customers, we will increase the supply of meat and poultry products from other countries."

百佳超市在一份聲明中表示：“為了滿足客戶需要，我們將會增加來自其它國家的肉類和禽類產(chǎn)品的供應(yīng)。”

I'm Phil Dierking.

菲兒·迪爾金報道。

Some of China's largest food suppliers have stopped selling Brazilian beef and poultry. The move comes following a scandal over Brazil’s meat processing industry.

Fears over Brazilian meat safety have grown since police accused inspectors of taking bribes to permit the sale of rotten and infected meats.

Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of beef.

The announcement from the Chinese food suppliers comes days after China temporarily suspended Brazilian meat imports.

Sun Art Retail operates 400 Chinese hypermarkets. A spokeswoman for Sun Art said its stores removed Brazilian beef on Monday from two of the country’s top meat exporters. Brazilian beef makes up less than 10 percent of Sun Art's beef supply, she said.

Wal-Mart stores in China have also removed Brazilian meat products from its stores, the Reuters news agency reported. And Germany's Metro has withdrawn Brazilian chicken products from its Chinese stores, a manager said.

Hong Kong, Japan, Canada and Mexico have also announced they were stopping major imports of some Brazilian meat.

An economic embarrassment

President Michel Temer said the sale of rotten meat was an “economic embarrassment for the country.”

The Brazilian government has so far barred the exports of meats from 21 plantsunder investigation.

Brazilian officials on Tuesday tried to calm consumers. They said the recent investigation has found only isolated problems with rotten or infected meat.

However, the reaction by Chinese food suppliers suggests that the investigation could have a big effect on the world's top meat exporter.

Brazil's trade associations for meat producers warned that the scandal could affect employment and the economy. Meat exports make up 15 percent of total exports. Cattle-raising is also an important part of Brazil's culture.

Sensitive to scandal

China has had its own share of food safety scandals in recent years. Food suppliers want to avoid any possible risks.

Sun Art’s spokeswoman said it removed Brazilian beef from its shelves before the Chinese government formally commented on the issue.

Brazil is the top supplier of beef to China. Importers must now wait several days before they try to find different meat suppliers. The meat will likely be more expensive than Brazil’s.

Hong Kong was the second-biggest buyer of Brazilian meat last year. The Hong Kong supermarket chain PARKnSHOP said it had removed all Brazilian pork, beef and chicken from its stores’ shelves.

PARKnSHOP said in a statement, "To cater for the needs of customers, we will increase the supply of meat and poultry products from other countries.”

I’m Phil Dierking.

This story was originally written for Reuters by Dominique Patton. Phil Dierking adapted this story for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

Do you know where the meat you eat comes from? Is it safe? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

scandal – n. an occurrence in which people are shocked and upset because of behavior that is morally or legally wrong

bribe – n. something valuable, such as money, that is given in order to get someone to do something

consumer – n. a person who buys goods and services

hypermarket - n. a very large store with a wide range of goods and a large parking lot, typically situated outside a town.

investigation – n. to try to find out the facts about something, such as a crime or an accident, in order to learn how it happened, who did it, etc.

plant - n. a building or factory where something is made?

rotten - adj. having rotted or decayed and no longer able to be used, eaten, etc. (rot - v. to slowly decay or cause something to decay) ?

supplier – n. a person or company that supplies goods or services

expensive - adj. costing a lot of money