【691-63】Food Colors: Natural or Not?
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【691】
AS IT IS
Food Colors: Natural or Not?
December 21, 2018
This May 28, 2015 file photo shows cheddar cheese Madison, Wis. The practice of adding color to cheddar cheese reaches back to when cheesemakers in England skimmed the butterfat from milk to make butter.
The color of food can send important messages about its quality.
Now, many food companies, including McDonald’s and Kellogg’s, say they will stop adding artificial colors to their products.
McDonald’s announced in September that it had removed artificial colors from many of its hamburgers. Kellogg’s has promised to remove them from its cereals by the end of this year.
What people accept as a normal color for food can change from place to place and over time. Until the 1980s, Americans expected pistachio nuts to be red. Pistachios were mostly imported from places where the nuts were dyed to cover spots.
Now, most pistachios sold in the United States are grown in the U.S. and have natural-colored shells.
But it is not just processed and boxed foods that create illusions with color.
Cheeses
Many cheddar cheeses contain a substance added called annatto, a plant extract commonly used for coloring.
Elizabeth Chubbuck, of Murray’s Cheese in New York, said adding color comes from the time when cheesemakers in England took the butterfat from milk to make butter. The leftover milk was whiter. So, she said, cheesemakers added substances to recreate butterfat’s golden color.
Another cheese that sometimes gets color added is mozzarella.
Sara Burnett is director of food policy at Panera Bread. She said mozzarella sometimes gets its bright white color from titanium dioxide, a common substance taken from nature.
Cathy Strange buys international cheeses for the food seller Whole Foods. She said the whitening is done because most mozzarella made in the U.S comes from cow’s milk, which can have a yellow color.
She said in Italy, mozzarella is sometimes made with milk from water buffalo. The milk is whiter because the animal cannot digest beta carotene, an orange nutrient in many fruits and vegetables.
Egg yolks
Many cooks think darker egg yolks are fresher or healthier. But the color may be the result of marigold petals, alfalfa or coloring products in food for chickens.
Elizabeth Bobeck is a professor at Iowa State University. She says that yolk color is mainly caused by the carotenoids that chickens eat. Carotenoids are a natural coloring in plants. “It’s easy to change yolk colors” by simply changing what chickens eat, she said.
Bobeck added that darker yolks are not necessarily healthier. This belief may come from the idea that yolks are darker when chickens are fed fresh plants.
Salmon
In salmon, a bright pink color is a sign of freshness to those buying the fish. Experts say this is why farmed salmon may have been fed food containing a man-made substance to make the flesh pinker.
The Food and Drug Administration notes that manufacturers have to declare on labeling if non-natural colors were used for salmon. For example, farmed salmon at Costco Wholesale stores is labeled “color added through feed.”
I’m Jonathan Evans.
Candice Choi reported this story for the Associated Press. Jonathan Evans adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter Jr. was the editor.
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Words in This Story
artificial- adj. not natural or real; made, produced, or done to seem like something natural
dye –n. a substance used for changing the color of something such as hair or cloth usually permanently
illusions –n. something that looks or seems different from what it is; something that is false or not real but that seems to be true or real
digest – v. to change food that you have eaten by a biological process into simpler forms that can be used by the body
yolk – n. the yellow part in the center of an egg
labeling –n. a word or phrase that describes or identifies something or someone
【692】
AS IT IS
US Defense Chief Jim Mattis's Resignation Letter
December 21, 2018
FILE - U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis gives a news conference after a NATO defense ministers meeting at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, June 29, 2017.
Dear Mr. President:
I have been privileged to serve as our country's 26th Secretary of Defense which has allowed me to serve alongside our men and women of the Department in defense of our citizens and our ideals.
I am proud of the progress that has been made over the past two years on some of the key goals articulated in our National Defense Strategy: putting the Department on a more sound budgetary footing, improving readiness and lethality in our forces, and reforming the Department's business practices for greater performance. Our troops continue to provide the capabilities needed to prevail in conflict and sustain strong U.S. global influence.
One core belief I have always held is that our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships. While the US remains the indispensable nation in the free world, we cannot protect our interests or serve that role effectively without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies. Like you, I have said from the beginning that the armed forces of the United States should not be the policeman of the world. Instead, we must use all tools of American power to provide for the common defense, including providing effective leadership to our alliances. NATO's 29 democracies demonstrated that strength in their commitment to fighting alongside us following the 9-11 attack on America. The Defeat-ISIS coalition of 74 nations is further proof.
Similarly, I believe we must be resolute and unambiguous in our approach to those countries whose strategic interests are increasingly in tension with ours. It is clear that China and Russia, for example, want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian model - gaining veto authority over other nations' economic, diplomatic, and security decisions - to promote their own interests at the expense of their neighbors, America and our allies. That is why we must use all the tools of American power to provide for the common defense.
My views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues. We must do everything possible to advance an international order that is most conducive to our security, prosperity and values, and we are strengthened in this effort by the solidarity of our alliances.
Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position. The end date for my tenure is February 28, 2019, a date that should allow sufficient time for a successor to be nominated and confirmed as well as to make sure the Department's interests are properly articulated and protected at upcoming events to include Congressional posture hearings and the NATO Defense Ministerial meeting in February. Further, that a full transition to a new Secretary of Defense occurs well in advance of the transition of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in September in order to ensure stability Within the Department.
I pledge my full effort to a smooth transition that ensures the needs and interests of the 2.15 million Service Members and 732,079 DoD civilians receive undistracted attention of the Department at all times so that they can fulfill their critical, round-the-clock mission to protect the American people.
I very much appreciate this opportunity to serve the nation and our men and women in uniform.
【693】
AS IT IS
US Allies Worry about Mattis’ Resignation
December 21, 2018
FILE - President Trump gets a briefing from his senior military leaders, including Defense Secretary James Mattis (L), in the Cabinet Room at the White House, October 23, 2018.
Traditional allies of the United States are expressing concern about the resignation of U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Mattis will leave the job in February. The announcement came a day after Trump said that U.S. troops would leave Syria.
The Defense Department opposed the troop withdrawal.
For several years, U.S.-supported forces in the Middle East have made progress against the Islamic State (IS). Defeating IS forces was just one part of a plan Mattis had for Syria. He wanted to reduce U.S. troop numbers there after successful completion of the three-part plan.
The president and Mattis disagreed on the issue. They also have different ideas about support for America’s traditional alliances. In his resignation letter, Mattis wrote that the United States cannot protect its interests without “showing respect to (our) allies.”
Overseas reaction
The French Defense Minister Florence Parly spoke about the resignation. She said that French forces were in Middle East as part of a coalition “led by the Americans.” Trump’s decision “changes the situation,” she added.
Britain’s Minister of State for the Middle East, Alistair Burt, wrote that “If allies cannot be relied upon, others are sought to take their place.” The social networking website Twitter published his comments.
Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt tweeted the U.S. move was a “morning of alarm in Europe.”
Defense Secretary Mattis is one of the most highly respected members of Trump’s foreign policy team. He helped lead the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and later led the U.S. Central Command until he retired in 2013.
In his resignation letter to Trump, Mattis wrote that the president should have a Secretary of Defense who agreed with him on foreign policy. He added, “I believe it is right for me to step down from my position.”
In addition to Syria, the two men disagreed about other issues, such the president’s decision pull the United States out of the nuclear deal with Iran. They also have differences of opinion about Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump has praised Putin’s leadership skills. Mattis believed the Russian president was interfering with Western democracies.
Russia has praised the U.S. decision to withdraw from Syria. In a separate move, Trump ordered the Defense Department to plan to withdraw about 50 percent of the 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. That withdrawal will reportedly begin in January 2019.
U.S. congressional reaction
Reacting to Mattis’ resignation, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was “distressed” that it resulted from “differences (about) America’s global leadership.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said she was “shaken” by the resignation and described it as “very serious for our country.”
“This is scary,” tweeted Senator Mark Warner of Virginia. He is the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Trump’s decision to leave Syria breaks with one of America’s longtime allies, the Kurds. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened in recent days to launch a military operation against U.S.-aided Kurdish militiamen now fighting in northeastern Syria.
I’m Susan Shand.
Susan Shand adapted this story for Learning English based on reports from VOA News, the Associated Press and Reuters. George Grow was the editor.
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Words in This Story
rely – v. to depend
distress – n. unhappiness or pain
global – adj. international, all the countries of the world
scary – adj. causing fear
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