中國營養(yǎng)政策背后，“垃圾食品”公司的身影

Happy 10 Minutes, a Chinese government campaign that encouraged schoolchildren to exercise for 10 minutes a day, would seem a laudable step toward improving public health in a nation struggling with alarming rates of childhood obesity.

“快樂十分鐘”是中國政府發(fā)起的一項活動，鼓勵小學生每天鍛煉10分鐘。在一個兒童肥胖率令人擔憂的國家，這似乎是朝著改善公共健康邁出的值得稱贊的一步。

But the initiative and other official Chinese efforts that emphasized exercise as the best way to lose weight were notable for what they didn’t mention: the importance of cutting back on the calorie-laden junk foods and sugary beverages that have become ubiquitous in the world’s second largest economy.

但值得注意的是，該倡議及其他中國官方強調(diào)“鍛煉是最佳減肥方式”，卻沒有提及一點：減少攝入高熱量垃圾食品和含糖飲料的重要性。在這個全球第二大經(jīng)濟體，這些商品已經(jīng)變得無處不在。

China’s fitness-is-best message, as it happens, has largely been the handiwork of Coca-Cola and other Western food and beverage giants, according to a pair of new studies that document how those companies have helped shape decades of Chinese science and public policy on obesity and diet-related illnesses like type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

根據(jù)兩項新的研究，中國碰巧傳遞出“健康最好”的信息，很大程度上是可口可樂及其它西方食品飲料巨頭的手筆——這些研究記錄了這些公司如何影響了幾十年來中國在肥胖和乙型糖尿病、高血壓等飲食相關疾病方面的科學和公共政策。

The findings, published Wednesday in ">The BMJ and The Journal of Public Health Policy, show how Coca-Cola and other multinational food companies, operating through a group called the International Life Sciences Institute, cultivated key Chinese officials in an effort to stave off the growing movement for food regulation and soda taxes that has been sweeping the west.

研究結果周三發(fā)表在英國醫(yī)學雜志(BMJ)和公共衛(wèi)生政策期刊(The Journal of Public Health Policy)上，表明可口可樂和其他跨國食品公司通過一個名為國際生命科學研究所(International Life Sciences Institute)的組織，與中國的關鍵官員建立聯(lián)系，以避免西方各國日漸興起的食品監(jiān)管和碳酸飲料征稅運動。

The group, known as ILSI, is a worldwide organization with a Washington headquarters, funded by many of the biggest names in snack foods, including Nestlé, McDonald’s, Pepsi Co. and Yum! Brands as well as Coca-Cola. It has 17 branches, most of in them emerging economies like Mexico, India, South Africa and Brazil, and promotes itself as a bridge between scientists, government officials and multinational food companies.

這個簡稱ILSI的組織遍布全世界，其總部設在華盛頓，由零食業(yè)的許多巨頭資助，包括雀巢、麥當勞、百事可樂、百勝(Yum Brands)和可口可樂。它有17個分部，大多位于墨西哥、印度、南非、巴西等新興經(jīng)濟體，對外宣傳自己是科學家、政府官員和跨國食品公司之間的橋梁。

But in China, ILSI is so well-placed that it runs its operations from inside the government’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in Beijing. In fact, when asked to comment on the studies, the ministry emailed a statement not from a government official but from ILSI’s China director.

但在中國，ILSI的地位高到在位于北京的中國疾病預防控制中心(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)內(nèi)部辦公。事實上，當被要求對上述研究置評時，該部門發(fā)出了一份電子郵件聲明——并非來自政府官員，而是來自ILSI中國辦事處主任。

The director, Chen Junshi, said the group had always emphasized the importance of both exercise and a well-balanced diet, and that its activities “are based on science and are not affected by any business.”

其主任陳君石稱，該組織向來同時強調(diào)鍛煉與均衡飲食的重要性，其活動“是基于科學，且不受任何企業(yè)的影響”。

The close relationship with the highest government health policymakers goes significantly beyond what the companies have been able to achieve in the West.

其與政府最高衛(wèi)生決策者的密切關系遠遠超出了這些公司在西方所能實現(xiàn)的程度。

Coca-Cola tried similar tactics in the United States by partnering with influential scientists and creating a nonprofit called the Global Energy Balance Network to promote a message that exercise, not dieting, was the solution to the nation’s obesity crisis. But in 2015, after an article in The New York Times on the efforts and subsequent outcry from public health advocates, the company disbanded the organization.

可口可樂曾在美國嘗試過類似策略：通過與有影響力的科學家結為伙伴，并建立非營利組織全球能量平衡網(wǎng)(Global Energy Balance Network)，以宣傳鍛煉——而非飲食——是該國肥胖危機解決之道的信息。但在2015年，在《紐約時報》發(fā)表了一篇有關這些動作的文章，以及公共衛(wèi)生倡導者后續(xù)進行譴責之后，該公司解散了這一組織。

In China, beginning in the late 1990s, ILSI organized obesity conferences, paid the way of Chinese scientists who attended the events and helped create national health campaigns aimed at tackling the country’s obesity epidemic, according to Susan Greenhalgh, a social scientist and China expert at Harvard who is the author of both studies.

據(jù)兩項研究的作者、社會科學家、哈佛大學中國問題專家葛蘇珊(Susan Greenhalgh)表示，在中國，ILSI從90年代后期便開始組織肥胖主題會議，支付參會中國科學家的行程費用，幫助打造旨在解決該國肥胖流行的全國性健康活動。

China’s public health initiatives almost always promote exercise, and they seldom mention the value of cutting calories or reducing the consumption of processed food and sugar-sweetened beverages, which many experts say is essential for losing weight, keeping it off, and improving health.

中國的公共衛(wèi)生倡議幾乎一向都側重鍛煉，很少提及減少熱量攝入或減少攝入加工食品和含糖飲料的價值，而很多專家表示這對于減少、保持體重和改善健康必不可少。

“You can’t use physical activity alone to get rid of obesity, hypertension or diabetes,” said Barry Popkin, a professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“你不能光靠身體活動擺脫肥胖、高血壓或糖尿病，”北卡羅來納大學教堂山分校(University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)營養(yǎng)學教授巴里·波普金(Barry Popkin)說。

Professor Popkin was not involved in the study, but he has spent decades working in China to help the country develop nutrition guidelines and food policy — efforts he said were often thwarted by well-placed officials aligned with ILSI.

波普金未參與此項研究，但他在中國工作了幾十年，幫助該國制定營養(yǎng)指南和食品政策——他說這些努力經(jīng)常遭到與ILSI結盟的高官阻撓。

Given his experience, he said Professor Greenhalgh’s findings were not surprising. “Over the course of several decades, Coke and ILSI have worked to prevent any kind of food policy that would benefit public health,” he said. “What they’ve been doing in China is insidious.”

鑒于他的經(jīng)歷，他說葛蘇珊的研究結果并不意外。“幾十年間，可口可樂和ILSI努力防止任何會使公共健康受益的食品政策，”他說。“他們在中國的所作所為是很陰險的。”

In a statement, ILSI said it was committed to backing “evidence-based food and nutrition research” and that it did not conduct lobbying activities or make policy recommendations in the countries where it operates.

在一份聲明中，ILSI稱其致力于支持“基于證據(jù)的食品營養(yǎng)研究”，且不在所運營的國家開展游說活動或進行政策建議。

“ILSI does not profess to have been perfect in our 40-year history,” the statement said. “Not surprisingly, there have been bumps along the way. This is why ILSI has analyzed best practices and has committed to ensuring scientific integrity in nutrition and food sector research.”

“ILSI不宣稱我們在40年的歷史中毫無差錯，”該聲明說。“不意外的是，在此過程中有過一些波折。正因為如此，ILSI分析了最佳做法，并致力于確保營養(yǎng)和食品領域研究的誠信。”

Coca-Cola said in a statement that it had also been changing the way it funded scientific research through greater transparency and by ending its practice of providing the lion’s share of money for studies. In recent years, it added, Coca-Cola has sought to address mounting obesity in China by offering an array of new sugar-free beverages and through improved nutrition labeling on products. “We recognize that too much sugar isn’t good for anyone,” it said.

可口可樂在一份聲明中表示，該公司還通過提高透明度和停止為研究提供最大份額資金的做法，改變資助科學研究的方式。聲明還說，近年來，可口可樂公司通過提供一系列新的無糖飲料和改善產(chǎn)品的營養(yǎng)標簽，試圖解決中國日益增長的肥胖問題。“我們認識到，太多的糖對任何人都不好，”它說。

Professor Greenhalgh’s findings were based on interviews with Chinese officials and scientists, and a review of public documents produced by Coca-Cola and ILSI.

葛蘇珊的發(fā)現(xiàn)基于對中國官員和科學家的采訪，以及對可口可樂和ILSI制作的公開文件的核查。

She said the industry efforts have been wildly successful, in part because China lacks a free media or watchdog organizations that might have been critical of the relationship.

她說，該行業(yè)的努力效果非常好，部分原因是中國缺乏自由的媒體或可能對這種關系持批評態(tài)度的監(jiān)督機構。

In just a few decades, China has gone from a nation plagued by food shortages to one buffeted by soaring obesity and chronic diseases tied to poor diet. More than 42 percent of adults in China are overweight and obese, according to Chinese researchers, more than double the rate in 1991. In Chinese cities, nearly a fifth of all children are obese, according to government surveys.

在短短幾十年時間里，中國已經(jīng)從一個飽受食品短缺之苦的國家，變成了一個深受肥胖和與不良飲食有關的慢性病困擾的國家。根據(jù)中國研究人員的數(shù)據(jù)，中國超過42%的成年人超重和肥胖，是1991年的兩倍多。根據(jù)政府的調(diào)查，在中國的城市里，將近五分之一的兒童肥胖。

The increases closely follow growing prosperity in China that began in the 1980s as Beijing embraced market economics after decades of isolation. In 1978, Coca-Cola was among the first companies allowed into the country, and ILSI arrived soon afterward. Seeking to identify influential scientists it could work with, the group found a partner in Chen Chunming, a leading nutritionist who was the founding president of the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, the forerunner of China’s C.D.C.

這些增長與中國自1980年代開始的日益繁榮密切相關，當時中國政府在經(jīng)歷了數(shù)十年的孤立之后，開始擁抱市場經(jīng)濟。1978年，可口可樂是首批獲準進入中國的公司之一，ILSI隨后很快進入中國。為了尋找可以與之合作的有影響力的科學家，該組織找到合作伙伴陳春明，他是著名的營養(yǎng)學家，也是中國疾病預防控制中心的前身中國預防醫(yī)學科學院的創(chuàng)始院長。

In 1993, Ms. Chen became the head of ILSA-China and she remained a senior adviser to the organization until her death last year. Professors Greenhalgh and Popkin said that Ms. Chen was instrumental in stymying attempts to address soaring obesity by stressing the harmful impact of consuming highly processed food and sugary soft drinks.

1993年，陳春明成為ILSI中國的負責人，并一直擔任該組織的高級顧問，直到于去年去世。葛蘇珊和波普金說，陳春明強調(diào)了精加工食品和含糖軟飲料的有害影響，這對解決日益嚴重的肥胖問題起到了遏制作用。

In interviews, several Chinese nutrition experts said they were not bothered by the relationship between ILSI and multinational beverage companies like Coca-Cola, and they defended the integrity of ILSI-backed researchers, praising their professional bona fides. He Jiguo, a nutrition professor at the College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering at China Agricultural University, said that Coca-Cola had only amplified the notion that exercise is essential to human health, an idea long espoused by China’s ruling Communist Party.

在采訪中，幾位中國營養(yǎng)專家表示，他們不為ILSI與可口可樂等跨國飲料公司的關系感到困擾，他們?yōu)镮LSI支持的研究人員的誠信進行了辯護，稱贊他們的專業(yè)誠意。中國農(nóng)業(yè)大學食品科學與營養(yǎng)工程學院營養(yǎng)學教授何繼國表示，可口可樂只是強化了鍛煉對身體健康至關重要的觀點，而這一觀點一直受到中國執(zhí)政的共產(chǎn)黨的支持。

“The key is that no matter what Cola-Cola or other beverage companies say, these drinks are just a product,” he said. “No one is being forced to buy them.”

“關鍵是可口可樂也好，其他飲料也好，它就是一個產(chǎn)品，”他說。“它沒有強制大家去做。”

With sweetened beverage consumption dropping in the United States and Europe, Coca-Cola increasingly views China and other developing countries as essential to maintaining profits. China is the company’s third largest market.

隨著美國和歐洲甜飲料消費量的下降，可口可樂越來越多地將中國和其他發(fā)展中國家視為維持利潤的關鍵。中國是該公司的第三大市場。

Martin McKee, professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said ILSI and other industry-funded groups that represent the interests of the tobacco, alcohol and fast-food companies have found fertile ground in poorer nations with weak public health bureaucracies.

倫敦衛(wèi)生和熱帶醫(yī)學院(London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)歐洲公共衛(wèi)生教授馬丁·麥基(Martin McKee)表示，ILSI和其它由行業(yè)資助的代表煙草、酒精和快餐公司利益的團體，在公共衛(wèi)生官僚機構薄弱的貧窮國家找到了肥沃的土壤。

Professor McKee, who wrote an editorial in the BMJ that accompanies the study, said such groups often claim to be independent think tanks but refuse to disclose detailed information about their funding.

麥基在《英國醫(yī)學雜志》(BMJ)上發(fā)表了一篇與這項研究相關的評論文章。他說，這類組織經(jīng)常聲稱自己是獨立的智庫，但拒絕透露有關資金的詳細信息。

These groups, he said, support and publicize scientific studies whose results sometimes muddy the waters on contentious issues like smoking or alcohol and soda consumption.

他說，這些組織支持和宣傳的科學研究有時會在吸煙、飲酒和汽水消費等有爭議的問題上混淆視聽。

“They often cherry pick data in ways that mislead while portraying these issues as so terribly complex that nothing can be done,” he said.

“他們經(jīng)常以一種誤導的方式挑選數(shù)據(jù)，同時把這些問題描述得非常復雜，讓人感覺什么都做不了，”他說。