又中又英｜World Chocolate Day

Not many people know about World Chocolate Day. Chocoholics celebrate it every year on July 7 by eating a lot of chocolates. Chocoholics are people who love eating chocolates. Some historians believe World Chocolate Day is celebrated every year on July 7 because that was the day in 1550 when Europe first had chocolates. Several countries have their own Chocolate Day as well. The US National Confectioners Association has chosen September 13 as the annual International Chocolate Day to celebrate the birth date of Milton Hershey who was born on that day in 1857.

Hershey was an American chocolatier who pioneered several types of chocolates.  The Hershey Company, known as Hershey’s, is one of the world’s biggest chocolatiers. A confectioner is a person or company that makes or sells candy. A chocolatier is a person or company that sells or makes chocolates. You must be wondering why I am writing about chocolates. I read media reports last week that said a new US study found eating chocolates could reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes. Many Hong Kong people have diabetes. Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection lists diabetes as a major cause of death.

The US study found only dark chocolate, not milk chocolate, could reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Earlier studies have shown dark chocolate has several health benefits. Milk chocolate is linked with weight gain and can increase the risk of diabetes. But the researchers warned this doesn’t mean people should gorge themselves with dark chocolate. To gorge yourself means to greedily eat a lot. They said a little piece of dark chocolate several times a week is enough.

不是許多人知道有世界朱古力日（World Chocolate Day）。朱古力迷（Chocoholics）每年7月7日都會吃很多朱古力來慶祝這一日。Chocoholics就是愛吃朱古力的人。一些歷史學家相信，世界朱古力日（World Chocolate Day）定於每年的7月7日，是因為在1550年的這天，朱古力在歐洲首度面世。幾個國家都有他們自己的朱古力日（Chocolate Day），美國國家糖果商（Confectioners）協會就選了9月13日為每年的國際朱古力日（International Chocolate Day），以慶祝米爾頓‧赫希的生日，他就是在1857年的這一天誕生的。

赫希是個美國的朱古力師傅（chocolatier），開創了好幾款的朱古力。好時公司，通稱 Hershey’s，是世界最大的朱古力製造商（chocolatiers）之一。A confectioner是製造或售賣糖果的人或公司，a chocolatier就是售賣或製造朱古力的人或公司。你一定很好奇，為甚麼我一直在寫這些關於朱古力的事。我上星期讀到一個傳媒報道指，一個新的美國研究發現，吃朱古力可以降低患上二型糖尿病的風險。許多香港人都有糖尿病，香港衞生防護中心將糖尿病列為導致死亡的主要原因。

美國研究發現，只有黑朱古力，而非牛奶朱古力，可以減低罹患二型糖尿病的風險。較早的研究顯示，黑朱古力有好些有益健康的好處。牛奶朱古力會與體重增加連結在一起，亦可能增加患糖尿病的風險。但研究人員警告指，這並不表示人們應該大吃（gorge themselves）黑朱古力。 To gorge yourself是指去狼吞虎嚥食物。他們說，一星期吃幾次一小塊黑朱古力就已很足夠了。

mickchug@gmail.com
Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻