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You've just opened a bottle of wine for dinner. On the label, you see these words: Contains Sulfites. What are sulfites? And what are they doing in your wine?
設想一下，你在晚餐時剛剛打開了一瓶酒，你會在酒瓶的標簽上看到：含亞硝酸鹽。亞硝酸鹽是什么？這些成分在你的酒中發揮什么樣的作用呢？
Sulfites are chemical compounds found naturally in grapes, garlic and other plants. Thousands of years ago, people realized something nifty about sulfites: they kill or slow the growth of bacteria and most yeasts. This comes in handy for winemakers, who add specific yeasts to ferment wine, and don't want wild yeasts or bacteria to spoil it. Sulfites prevent spoilage in wine, acting as a preservative.
亞硝酸鹽是在葡萄，大蒜和其他植物中常見的一種化合物。幾千年前，人們就發現了亞硝酸鹽的一些妙用：它們能殺死細菌，或者降低細菌滋生和發酵的速度。這個發現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酵，但是同時，他們又不想野生酵母和細菌破壞了這個過程。而亞硝酸鹽就能阻止酒的腐壞，在其中發揮了防腐劑的作用。
The amount of sulfites naturally in grapes is very small, and there's a bit more produced during fermentation. But to take full advantage of sulfites' preservative abilities, winemakers add a little more to the process. The Egyptians sterilized wine containers with sulfites, and sulfites have been added to wine for hundreds of years.
葡萄中含有亞硝酸鹽的量非常少，在發酵過程中數量會有稍許的增加。但是，為了有效利用亞硝酸鹽的防腐作用，釀酒師們通常會在釀酒過程中多添加一點點亞硝酸鹽。埃及人也曾使用亞硝酸鹽對酒類容器進行殺菌，而且，亞硝酸鹽被添加進入酒類也已經有了幾百年歷史了。
So the relationship between wine and sulfites goes way back. But in 1985, the Food and Drug Administration required wine with added sulfites to say so on the label. Why?
因此，酒和亞硝酸鹽的關系其實可以回溯到很久很久以前。但在1985年，食品與藥品管理局要求，若酒類有添加亞硝酸鹽，需要在標簽上注明，為什么？
Researchers had recently discovered that less than one percent of the population is sensitive to sulfites. Most have mild reactions, like an itchy rash. But some folks have life-threatening reactions, including difficulty breathing and low blood pressure.
因為有研究人員之前發現，有不到1%的人會對亞硝酸鹽產生過敏反應，雖然多數人的反應比較輕微，比如說會起很癢的皮疹，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. Not all asthmatics are sensitive to sulfites, but the label's there for those who need to steer clear. As the old saying goes, in wine–and now on the label–there is truth!
我們經常會在哮喘癥患者身上看到這些少有但嚴重的反應。其實，也并不是所有的哮喘癥患者都會對亞硝酸鹽過敏，標簽上的說明只是為了警示需要注意的人避開這些成分。就像老話常說的那樣，酒后，現在是標注在標簽上-吐真言！
