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.

不是许多人知道有世界朱古力日（World Chocolate Day）。朱古力迷（Chocoholics）每年7月7日都会吃很多朱古力来庆祝这一日。Chocoholics就是爱吃朱古力的人。一些历史学家相信，世界朱古力日（World Chocolate Day）定于每年的7月7日，是因为在1550年的这天，朱古力在欧洲首度面世。几个国家都有他们自己的朱古力日（Chocolate Day），美国国家糖果商（Confectioners）协会就选了9月13日为每年的国际朱古力日（International Chocolate Day），以庆祝米尔顿‧赫希的生日，他就是在1857年的这一天诞生的。

赫希是个美国的朱古力师傅（chocolatier），开创了好几款的朱古力。好时公司，通称 Hershey’s，是世界最大的朱古力制造商（chocolatiers）之一。A confectioner是制造或售卖糖果的人或公司，a chocolatier就是售卖或制造朱古力的人或公司。你一定很好奇，为甚么我一直在写这些关于朱古力的事。我上星期读到一个传媒报道指，一个新的美国研究发现，吃朱古力可以降低患上二型糖尿病的风险。许多香港人都有糖尿病，香港衞生防护中心将糖尿病列为导致死亡的主要原因。

美国研究发现，只有黑朱古力，而非牛奶朱古力，可以减低罹患二型糖尿病的风险。较早的研究显示，黑朱古力有好些有益健康的好处。牛奶朱古力会与体重增加连结在一起，亦可能增加患糖尿病的风险。但研究人员警告指，这并不表示人们应该大吃（gorge themselves）黑朱古力。 To gorge yourself是指去狼吞虎咽食物。他们说，一星期吃几次一小块黑朱古力就已很足够了。

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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻