時差N小時:亞硫酸鹽是什么? What Are Sulfites?

You've just opened a bottle of wine for dinner.

設想一下，你在晚餐時剛剛打開了一瓶酒，

On the label,you see these words: Contains Sulfites.

你會在酒瓶的標簽上看到：含亞硫酸鹽。

What are sulfites?

亞硫酸鹽是什么?

And what are they doing in your wine?

這些成分在你的酒中發(fā)揮什么樣的作用呢?

Sulfites are chemical compounds found naturally ingrapes, garlic and other plants.

亞硫酸鹽是在葡萄，大蒜和其他植物中常見的一種化合物。

Thousands ofyears ago, people realized something nifty about sulfites: they kill or slow thegrowth of bacteriaand most yeasts.

幾千年前，人們就發(fā)現(xiàn)了亞硫酸鹽的一些妙用：它們能殺死細菌，或者降低細菌滋生和發(fā)酵的速度。

This comes in handy for winemakers, who add specific yeasts to ferment wine,and don't wantwild yeasts or bacteria to spoil it.

這個發(fā)現(xiàn)對于釀酒師來說是非常重要的，他們通常會在酒中加一些特定的酵母使酒發(fā)酵，但是同時，他們又不想野生酵母和細菌破壞了這個過程。

Sulfites prevent spoilage in wine, acting as apreservative.

而亞硫酸鹽就能阻止酒的腐壞，在其中發(fā)揮了防腐劑的作用。

The amount of sulfites naturally in grapes is very small, and there's a bit more producedduringfermentation.

葡萄中含有亞硫酸鹽的量非常少，在發(fā)酵過程中數(shù)量會有稍許的增加。

But to take full advantage of sulfites' preservative abilities, winemakers add a littlemore tothe process.

但是，為了有效利用亞硫酸鹽的防腐作用，釀酒師們通常會在釀酒過程中多添加一點點亞硫酸鹽。

The Egyptians sterilized wine containers with sulfites, and sulfites have beenadded to wine forhundreds of years.

埃及人也曾使用亞硫酸鹽對酒類容器進行殺菌，而且，亞硫酸鹽被添加進入酒類也已經(jīng)有了幾百年歷史了。

So the relationship between wine and sulfites goes way back.

因此，酒和亞硫酸鹽的關系其實可以回溯到很久很久以前。

But in 1985, the Food and DrugAdministration required wine with added sulfites to say so onthe label. Why?

但在1985年，食品與藥品管理局要求，若酒類有添加亞硫酸鹽，需要在標簽上注明，為什么?

Researchers had recently discovered that less than one percent of the population is sensitivetosulfites.

因為有研究人員之前發(fā)現(xiàn)，有不到1%的人會對亞硫酸鹽產(chǎn)生過敏反應，

Most have mild reactions, like an itchy rash.

雖然多數(shù)人的反應比較輕微，比如說會起很癢的皮疹，

But some folks have life-threatening reactions,including difficulty breathing and low bloodpressure.

但有部分人的過敏反應會威脅到生命安全，這些反應包括呼吸困難或低血壓等。

These rare but serious reactions are most often seen in asthmatics.

我們經(jīng)常會在哮喘癥患者身上看到這些少有但嚴重的反應。

Not all asthmatics are sensitiveto sulfites, but the label's there for those who need to steerclear.

其實，也并不是所有的哮喘癥患者都會對亞硫酸鹽過敏，標簽上的說明只是為了警示需要注意的人避開這些成分。

As the old saying goes, inwine–and now on the label–there is truth!

就像老話常說的那樣，酒后，現(xiàn)在是標注在標簽上吐真言!