同志们,“非转基因”食品并不等于有机食品啊

It appears that sales of foods touting an absence of genetically-modified ingredients are booming in the U.S. - but some people may be surprised to learn what's actually in such foods in lieu of GMOs.

看来，吹捧不含转基因成分的食物正在美国风靡起来--但有些人在得知转基因食物的真实替代物之后可能会很吃惊。

Sales of products labeled by the Non-GMO Project, a nonprofit that verifies the contents of GMO-free foods, have more than doubled over the past two years - from $7 billion to $16 billion today, according to NPR's Dan Charles.

非转基因工程是核实非转基因食物成分的非营利组织。据美国国家公共电台的丹·查尔斯所述，标记着非转基因工程的食物销售额在过去两年翻了一番--从70亿美元增长到了今日的160亿美元。

At the same time, organic foods have also been gaining in popularity.

同时，有机食物也越来越受人欢迎。

According to the Organic Trade Association's latest numbers, sales of all organic products nationwide hit $43 billion last year, representing a 34-percent increase over the $32 billion figure recorded two years earlier.

根据有机食品贸易协会最新的数据表明：去年全国的有机食品销售额达到了430亿美元，比2年前增长了34%，2年前的销售额为320亿美元。

That's a sizable surge, of course, but nowhere near the growth observed by the non-GMO segment. This is raising the anxiety of some organic food companies, who point out that just because a product lacks GMOs doesn't mean it meets other standards those customers might be looking for.

当然，这一增长率是相当大的，但与非转基因部门观察到的增长率相比还相差甚远。这就让有些有机食品公司忧心忡忡，他们指出仅仅因为食品中不含转基因成分，并不意味着这些食品能满足顾客们的其它标准。

"OK, it's great that there's a non-GMO symbol on there," Pete and Gerry's Organic Eggs CEO and owner Jesse LaFlamme told NPR. "But do you understand that that product might have been produced with pesticides, antibiotics, and with no regard for animal welfare?"

"对，有一个非转基因的标签贴在食品上很好，"Pete and Gerry's Organic Eggs公司的首席执行官兼老板Jesse LaFlamme对着美国国家公共电台说道。"但你考虑过吗，这些食品可能是打了农药、抗生素的，根本就没有考虑到其它动物的死活？"

There indeed seems to be some confusion about what qualifies a food as being a "non-GMO" product and one that is certified organic. Here are some facts you might want to keep in mind the next time you're feeling overwhelmed in a supermarket aisle:

对于什么样的食品才能称得上"非转基因"食品以及什么样的才能称作合格的有机食品的确让人感到疑惑。下列事实你可能需要牢记，这样下一次在超市里感到困惑时就知道该怎么办了。

If a food has a certified organic label, it is essentially GMO-free. And this label means many other things.

如果食物上贴着认证过的有机标签，那么它真的是非转基因食物。这一标签还有其它的含义。

All organic foods are inherently "GMO-free" ― this is one of the many strict guidelines set forth by the USDA. These foods were produced without any synthetic pesticides or fertilizers and must be grown in a way that also protects soil quality.

所有的有机食品本质上都是"非转基因"的--这是美国农业部规定的严格准则之一。这些食品在生产过程中没有使用合成农药或肥料，都是在确保土壤质量的条件下生产的。