Europeans still harbouring concerns about a horsey taste in their hamburgers should spare a thought for Walmart customers in China, who are dealing with a food safety scandal that reads like an Aesop fable.
对汉堡中的马肉味道仍心有余悸的欧洲人，应该关心一下沃尔玛(Walmart)在中国的消费者，他们正面对一场听上去像是一则伊索寓言的食品安全丑闻。
The world’s largest retailer has promised to compensate Chinese customers who bought its spicy donkey meat after a supplier adulterated the popular delicacy with fox meat.
这家全球最大零售商已承诺向那些在其门店购买了“五香驴肉”产品的中国消费者作出赔偿，原因是一供应商在这种颇受欢迎的食品中掺入了狐狸肉。
Walmart has recalled the “five spice” donkey meat sold in its stores in Jinan city in eastern China after it said tests found the product contained the DNA of “other animals”.
沃尔玛已召回在中国东部城市济南门店销售的“五香驴肉”产品，此前该公司表示，经过检测发现，该产品含有“其他动物”的DNA。
The revelations followed reports from government officials that found the products were actually made from fox.
此前，政府官员的报告发现，该产品实际上就是用狐狸肉制作的。
Fox meat sells for around $1 per kilo in Jinan and is cheaper than donkey, a popular snack in some parts of China.
在济南，狐狸肉的价格约为每公斤1美元，比驴肉便宜。驴肉在中国部分地方颇受欢迎。
“We have been deeply shocked by this incident,” said Greg Foran, Walmart China chief executive. “It has . . .  shown that we need to continue to increase investment in supplier management.”
“我们对此事感到非常震惊，”沃尔玛中国业务首席执行官高福澜(Greg Foran)表示，“这……表明，我们必须继续加大在供应商管理方面的投资。”
The company said it was considering legal action against the supplier. The problem came to light when a customer bought 1,600 packages of meat, and demanded compensation when tests showed that the product contained fox meat, according to Chinese media reports. These reports quoted Walmart initially saying that it thought the customer was trying to extort money.
该公司表示，正考虑对该供应商采取法律行动。根据中国媒体的报道，一位消费者在购买了1600袋“五香驴肉”产品后要求沃尔玛作出赔偿，因为检测发现，该产品含有狐狸肉。这些报道援引沃尔玛最初的话表示，该公司认为，这名消费者是想讹诈。
Food and product safety scandals remain rampant in China. There have been countless cases of rodent meat being passed off as that of more expensive animals. In the past few weeks at least a dozen babies have died after receiving hepatitis injections produced by a company that supplies around 60 per cent of China’s hepatitis B vaccines.
在中国，食品和产品安全丑闻仍层出不穷。有很多用老鼠肉冒充价格更贵的动物肉的例子。过去几周，至少有12名婴儿在注射一家公司生产的乙肝疫苗后死亡，该公司供应的乙肝疫苗占中国市场的60%左右。
Consumers also have to worry about the effects of pollution on food production.
消费者还不得不担心污染对食品生产的影响。
Nearly 50m acres, or about one-sixth of China’s arable land, is affected by soil pollution from heavy metals, pesticides and industrial effluent. About 8m acres are so polluted that the government has said planting crops there should be banned
近5000万英亩耕地——约占中国耕地的六分之一——存在重金属、杀虫剂和工业废弃物造成的土壤污染。约800万英亩土地污染严重，政府表示不宜种植庄稼。
The donkey meat scandal will further undermine Walmart’s reputation in China, now the world’s biggest food and grocery market, worth $1tn.
驴肉丑闻将进一步破坏沃尔玛在中国的声誉，如今，中国是全球最大的食品杂货市场，规模为1万亿美元。
In 2011 the company was fined in China for allegedly manipulating prices and was accused of mislabelling ordinary pork as organic.
2011年，沃尔玛在中国因涉嫌价格操纵被罚款，并被控给普通猪肉贴上有机标签。