近年來 ，素食主義風潮席捲全球。
從2014年起，在英國創立的一項全球性公益活動「一月請吃素」Veganuary(Vegan+January)，每年更是吸引了數十萬人的參與。這個活動旨在鼓勵大家在新年伊始，以1月為始，嘗試全素食的生活方式。
(Via veganuary.com)
該活動從動物保護、健康、環境保護和營養學角度向公眾宣傳素食的益處。
不過，今年的活動引發了不少主流媒體的關注，不少媒體還就此話題展開了激烈的辯論。
起因是英國平價快餐連鎖品牌Greggs上周推出了一款全新的
素食香腸卷。這款香腸卷在顧客群中收到了截然相反的反饋。
(Via Twitter)
Ever since Greggs announced its new vegan sausage roll on January 2, the Internet has been ablaze with opposing opinions. Many have been delighted, with many outlets of the UK fast-food chain selling out of the new arrival by lunchtime. Others however, haven't been so thrilled.
自從Greggs在1月2日宣布了它的全新素食香腸卷後，網上充斥著截然相反的聲音。許多人很高興，午飯時分的許多Greggs連鎖店，這款新品香腸卷都被搶購一空。然而也有另外一部分人不怎麼高興。
On Greggs' announcement, the TV presenter and newspaper columnist Piers Morgan tweeted: "Nobody was waiting for a vegan bloody sausage, you PC-ravaged clowns."
對於Greggs的新產品廣告，英國電視節目主持人和報紙專欄作者皮爾斯•摩根在推特上發文稱「沒有人在等你們該死的素食香腸，你們這些霸屏電腦的小丑。」
(Via CNN)
(Via Twitter)
He, and many others, have since continued to lament "messing with the perfect sausage roll." One shopper tweeted a video entitled "how to eat a vegan sausage roll." It shows him buying the roll, then walking to a bin, and throwing it away.
他，以及其他許多人不斷的哀嘆Greggs是在「糟蹋完美的香腸。」還有一個食客在推特上發布了一段名為「如何完美食用素食香腸卷」的視頻。視頻中，他購買香腸卷後走到一個垃圾桶邊把香腸給扔了。
Now, any discussion of veganism online tends to be an absolute minefield. But for all the associated aggro, plant-based eating seems to be on the rise. One 2016 survey found that more than 540,000 people described themselves as vegan -- a nearly fourfold increase in 10 years. More than 2,000 books are available at Waterstones with the word "vegan" in the title, Google searches have multiplied in the space of a few years, and in 2017, Just Eat saw a 987% increase in demand for vegetarian takeaways.
根據CNN的報導，儘管關於素食主義的話題在網絡上成為了一個雷區，但吃素食的人數確實在上升。 2016年英國素食協會的一項調查顯示，在英國有超過54萬人聲稱他們是素食者，與10年前相比增長了將近4倍。 Waterstone's連鎖書店裡有超過2000種圖書是關於「素食」的。而在谷歌搜索裡，關於素食的搜索在幾年時間內也是成倍增長。在2017年，對素食外賣的搜索增長了987%。
(Via CNN)
那皮爾斯•摩根認為素食香腸沒有市場，又何出此言呢?以及為何素食香腸會遭到那麼多反對呢?
英國《每日郵報》的一篇報導告訴我們：嚴格遵循全素食生活方式到底對健康有益與否取決於你吃的是怎樣的素食。
One 2017 study found that people who stuck to a plant-based diet including lots of wholegrains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, pulses and vegetable oils were less likely than average to develop heart disease.
2017年的一項研究發現，那些採用全素食生活方式(包括全穀物、水果、蔬菜、堅果、豆類和植物油)的人們罹患心臟疾病的概率低於平均水平。
But those who ate a vegan diet high in sugar and processed foods were actually 32 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with heart disease than meat-eaters.
但是那些食用含高糖及加工食物的素食餐飲的人比肉食者罹患心臟疾病的比例實際上要高出32%。
Clearly, making your own vegan meals from scratch is one thing. But do the vast variety of supermarket offerings follow the rules of healthy plant-based eating, or would the meat version be better?
顯然，從原材料開始製作你自己的素食餐才是關鍵。但是，那些超市裡提供的大量素食食物是否遵循了健康的素食原則呢?還是說與之相比，肉食更健康呢?
(Via dailymail.co.uk)
為此，記者從超市選取了肉類，魚類、奶類和雞蛋的素食替代品，從其營養、口味等方面與真正的葷食做比較， 給接下來一個月打算吃素的讀者一些啟迪。
The new wave of vegan 『plant-based』 offerings in our supermarkets may, at first glance, seem like healthy options. But most of them are ultra-processed factory products, the polar opposite of real, wholesome food.
在我們的超市中，新一輪的素食主義「以植物為基礎」的產品乍一看似乎是健康的選擇。但其中大部分都是過度加工的工廠產品，與真正的、有益健康的食品截然相反。
The basic mixture of components doesn’t vary hugely, irrespective of whether the label tells you it’s trying to be like dairy, egg, fish, meat or fowl.
成分的基本構成不會有很大差異，無論標籤是否告訴您它被嘗試製作得像乳製品，雞蛋，魚，肉或家禽。
The first ingredient in the majority of these phony concoctions is water. Ample amounts are required to mix in with the food engineer’s toolkit of powders. These include protein powders, such as soy protein and plant 『concentrate』, and pea and rice protein, extracted from their natural source using high-tech chemical, and biological methods.
大多數這些偽造的肉製品中的第一種成分是水。需要足夠量的水與食品工程師的粉末製品混合使用。這些粉末包括蛋白質粉末，如大豆蛋白和植物「濃縮物」，以及從天然來源使用高科技化學品和生物方法提取的豌豆和大米蛋白。
The remaining solid bulk of the product is typically made up of chemically altered starches stripped from wheat, maize, potato and rice.
產品中剩餘的固體大部分通常由從小麥，玉米，馬鈴薯和大米中用化學方法改變了性質的澱粉組成。
(Via dailymail.co.uk)
而這些加工過的「基於植物」的素食通常添加了不少改善口感的添加劑 ，它們對於健康的影響可想而知。
因此，該報建議在挑選這些食品的之前先
好好看看成分標籤，而不要被市場營銷的炒作左右了你的選擇。