TIFFANY MAY, AMY CHANG CHIEN 2024年7月12日

北京一家超市出售的食用油，摄于本周。 NG HAN GUAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Chinese government said it would start a food-safety investigation after public outrage followed a news report that a tanker truck carried liquefied coal and was then immediately used to transport cooking oil.

中国政府表示将启动一项食品安全调查，此前有媒体报道称，一辆刚卸完煤制油的罐车立即被用来运输食用油，引起了公众的愤怒。

Last week, The Beijing News, which has a reputation as one of mainland China’s boldest newspapers, reported that it had witnessed a tanker truck previously used to transport industrial coal oil being loaded with soybean oil. The tanker was not sterilized between the loads, according to the newspaper, which said the episode took place in late May in Yanjiao, in Hebei, near Beijing.

上周，被誉为中国大陆最大胆的报纸之一的《新京报》报道，记者目睹了一辆刚送完煤制油的油罐车被装上了豆油。该报称，这起事件发生在5月下旬，地点位于距离北京不远的河北燕郊。

Several truckers interviewed for the piece said that often tankers were not cleaned before being loaded with cooking oil, sugar or other substances to be taken to wholesalers and other businesses. Cleaning a tanker takes several hours and costs at least $40.

接受采访的几名卡车司机表示，罐车在装载食用油、糖浆或其他可食用液体运往批发商和其他企业之前，通常不会清洗罐体。洗罐需要数小时时间，费用至少需要三四百元。

In the past two decades, China has repeatedly dealt with food safety concerns, including infant formula laced with melamine and cooking oil being recycled for continued use, a practice commonly known as using “gutter oil.”

在过去的二十年里，中国多次出现食品安全问题，包括含三聚氰胺的婴儿配方奶粉，以及食用油被回收继续使用，俗称“地沟油”。

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In a statement published Wednesday, the Chinese State Council Commission on Food Safety said that the authorities would investigate the newspaper’s report. “Illegal enterprises and relevant responsible persons will be severely punished in accordance with the law,” it said, adding that it would also study the safety risks in the cooking oil.

中国国务院食品安全委员会在周三发表的一份声明中说，有关部门将对该报的报道进行彻查。“对于违法企业和相关责任人，将依法严惩、绝不姑息”，还说，将组织开展食用油风险隐患专项排查。

A commentary in The People’s Daily, the Communist Party mouthpiece, posted on Monday on its official WeChat account, said that food safety was of “paramount importance.” It continued: “We must consistently adhere to the strictest standards, the strictest supervision, the harshest penalties, and the most serious accountability, without any slackening or complacency at any time.”

中共喉舌《人民日报》周一在其微信公众号上发表评论称，食品安全“大于天”。它还说：“要一以贯之坚持最严谨的标准、最严格的监督、最严厉的处罚、最严肃的问责，丝毫不可懈怠、时刻不能放松。”

China has tried to enforce rigorous food testing over the last two decades to reassure the public.

在过去二十年里，为了让公众放心，中国不断努力实施严格的食品检测。

“This scandal actually destroys some of the confidence of the consumer because there are still some companies that do not follow the rules or do not really care about food safety or quality,” said Terence Lau, the founder and chairman of the Food Safety Consortium, a nonprofit agency in Hong Kong. “So I think it will make an impact on the food industry, even though a lot of companies have been doing very well in the past 20 years.”

“这一丑闻其实一定程度上摧毁了消费者的信心，因为仍然有一些公司不遵守规则或不真正关心食品安全或质量，”香港非营利机构食品安全联盟的创始人兼主席刘乐庭表示。“所以我认为，这将对食品行业产生影响，尽管过去20年里许多公司都做得很好。”

The recent allegation of a food product being mixed with industrial substances has roiled social media, with some commenters raising health concerns. Some hashtags discussing the scandal appear to have been censored.

最近这起关于食品掺入工业物质的指控在社交媒体上引起了轩然大波，一些留言提出了健康方面的担忧。一些讨论这起丑闻的话题标签似乎已被屏蔽。

Laura Tang, a 32-year-old insurance manager in Shanghai, said that after the report she has been avoiding oil brands made by China Grain Reserves Corporation, one of the state enterprises that had received deliveries from the tanker tracked by The Beijing News.

32岁的上海保险经理劳拉·唐表示，在看到报道后，她开始避开中储粮集团的食用油品牌，这家国有企业是《新京报》记者跟踪的那辆罐车的货物交付方之一。

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“It bothers me to think that the oils we eat might not be safe,” she said in a phone interview. “Food safety is the most basic necessity for people’s livelihood. What I only hope is the investigation results will come to light as soon as possible.”

“想到我们吃的油可能有问题挺困扰，”她在接受电话采访时说。“食物安全是人民生活最必须的，只希望调查结果尽快水落石出。”

The Beijing News report did not say where the shipment of potentially contaminated soybean oil ended up. Caixin News, another Chinese news outlet, reported that tank-cleaning companies had seen reduced business in the last few years, as shipping companies tried to cut costs.

《新京报》的报道没有说这批可能受到污染的豆油最终运往何处。另一家中国新闻媒体财新网报道，随着运输公司努力削减成本，罐体清洗公司的业务在过去几年里有所减少。