“如果有什麼事是吃一包辣條解決不了的，那就來兩包辣條壓壓驚！”
對於很多80後、90後的朋友們來說，辣條可謂是“居家旅行，必備良品”。
What kind of food do you prefer to snack on? In China, many people may choose a latiao. Also known as "spice sticks", latiao is made from flour, spicy oil and food additives. This tasty snack is quite cheap, as each packet of latiao is usually sold for two yuan (around 0.3 US dollars). The humble snack is incredibly popular among children and young adults, and it can be seen in every school tuck shop, convenience store and supermarket.
然而最近辣條這個零食圈“扛把子”卻攤上大事兒了。
日前，六批次來自河南省企業生產的辣條被湖北省食品藥品監督管理局公佈為不合格產品，其中包括知名辣條品牌“衛龍”生產的幾款產品。9月5日，湖北省食品藥品監督管理局相關負責人表示，湖北全省已下架所有涉事批次辣條。據介紹，這六批次辣條不合格的原因是因為添加了“山梨酸及其鉀鹽”和“脫氫乙酸”等防腐劑。
However, the cheap delicacy was recently hit by a scandal in central China's Hubei Province. Last Thursday, Hubei Food and Drug Administration announced that six latiao batches, all manufactured in several factories in north China's Henan Province, were below food safety standards. These products were all pulled from shelves on Wednesday.
According to the Hubei Food and Drug Administration, these snacks were judged as substandard because they used sorbic and dehydroacetic acids, two food preservatives that are not allowed in flavored flour products.
然而涉事品牌衛龍則發表聲明稱，衛龍一直執行現行有效的地方標準，衛龍產品生產完全合法合規。
雙方產生分歧的原因其實在於河南、湖北兩地對於辣條生產參照標準不同。根據河南省的地方標準，辣條參照的是糕點類食品的生產標準，允許添加使用防腐劑；而湖北則依據國家標準，將辣條歸入調味面製品，這一類食品生產則不允許使用防腐劑。
Weilong Food, whose latiao products were declared as substandard, issued a statement on its official weibo account on Tuesday and said that their products meet the requirements of food production standards in Henan Province.
The reason that caused a scandal is because of the different food safety standards employed by the different provinces. In Hubei, latiao is classified as a flavored flour product, which is based on national food production standards that prevent the use of food preservatives. But in Henan, the local standards regard latiao as a pastry, meaning that adding food preservatives during production is allowed.
辣條“下架”也引起了社交網絡上一眾辣條愛好者的熱議。
很多網友表示“辣條誠可貴，生命價更高”，食品安全問題不能馬虎，支持辣條生產參照更為嚴格的國家標準。
然而辣條“擁躉”則表示“無所畏懼”：“我都吃辣條了，我還在乎健康嗎！”
雖然辣條一直被認為是“垃圾食品”，但是不少網友還是割捨不下對辣條的愛。不少人還戲稱自己是“吃著辣條長大的”。社交網絡上，關於辣條的各種搞笑段子和表情包也是層出不窮。
而國內的辣條生產行業也在迅速發展。鳳凰財經的報道顯示，2009年到2016年間，辣條的市場銷售額從170多億元增至510億元。2018年，銷售額預計將超過600億元。
這幾年，辣條甚至火到了海外。在亞馬遜和eBay等國外購物網站，如今都能買到辣條；而在視頻網站YouTube上，也有不少國外的“油管紅人”們拍攝的吃辣條視頻。
Though latiao has long been nicknamed "spicy junk", it still ranks at the top of the list of Chinese people's favorite snacks. Its massive popularity has also inspired Chinese netizens to create various memes and jokes on social media.
The latiao industry has also developed rapidly in recent years. According to the statistics from finance.ifeng.com, between 2009 to 2016, sales of latiao in China soared from 17 to 51 billion yuan. This year, sales are estimated to reach over 60 billion yuan.
The snack has fans and enthusiasts overseas as well. The snacks are now sold on foreign sites like Amazon and eBay, and many famous vloggers have shared videos of them tasting latiao on YouTube.
在快速發展的同時，辣條產業也面臨著一系列的問題。除了本次“下架事件”所涉及的食品生產標準問題，辣條的生產工藝技術、品牌建設、產品營養健康化等方面都亟待解決。
However, it is important to note that the latiao industry has confronted a lot of issues as it has developed. Besides for food production standards, issues such as upgrading how the latiao is made and building the brand have been, and will continue to be, taken into consideration. As health consciousness rises, customers are upping their expectations for what latiao companies can provide.
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