香港政府已要求全球快餐连锁店麦当劳取消炸薯条中的一种调料,因为这种调料中可能含有禁用的人造甜味剂,一发言人于上周日说道。政府说现已发现该连锁店的蜂蜜烧烤混合调料的标签中列出了人造甜味剂甜叶菊甙,这一成分在香港是被禁用的。

　　美国全国癌症研究会在其网站上指出,甜叶菊甙的主要化学成分在实验室可以被转化为能改变基因的物质,而要确定这种甜味剂能否导致癌症还需进一步研究。"我们正在检测,以便搞清它是不是获得批准的甜味剂。是否考虑司法程序则取决于检测结果。"香港食品与环境卫生署发言人说道。

　　对此麦当劳并未马上给出说法,但报章说该公司已停止使用这种调料粉。

　　麦当劳炸薯条中的一种调料香港遭禁

　　HONG KONG (Reuters) - The Hong Kong government has asked global fast-food chain McDonalds to withdraw a seasoning for its French fries because it could contain a banned artificial sweetener, a spokeswoman said on Sunday. The government said it had discovered that the label for the chain's honey barbecue seasoning mix listed the artificial sweetener stevioside, which is banned in Hong Kong, as an ingredient.

　　The US National Cancer Institute says on its website that the main chemical in stevioside can be converted in a laboratory into a substance that alters genes. Further study is needed to determine whether the sweetener can cause cancer, it says. "We are testing to see if it is a permitted sweetener or not. Legal action would be considered, subject to the results of the test," a spokeswoman for the Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said.

　　McDonalds was not immediately available for comment but newspapers said that the company had since stopped using the powder.