In the late 1990's, Taiwan made its biggest impact on the world through the production of computers and electronic components, but as competition from South Korean and China’s PC makers intensifies, the island is finding another way to cement its place in the world one tapioca ball at a time.

上世纪90年代末，台湾通过电脑和电子元器件的生产使其对世界的影响达到了巅峰，但在来自韩国和中国大陆个人电脑生产商的竞争加剧之际，台湾开始找到另外一个途径来巩固其在世界上的地位──这就是珍珠奶茶。

Known as bubble or pearl tea, this Taiwanese culinary invention of putting chewy tapioca balls in milk tea, has come a long way since it was first concocted at a small tea shop in central Taiwan 30 years ago. Not only it is the most popular drink on the island, the beverage has taken the world by its palate. Bubble tea shops can be found in Berlin, Istanbul, Paris, London, Sidney, Japan, Singapore and across China.

这种台湾特色饮品在奶茶中加入咬劲十足的粉圆。珍珠奶茶是30年前台湾中部地区的一个小茶馆首创的，如今已经变得广为流行。它不仅是台湾最受欢迎的饮品，还征服了世界各地人们的味蕾。在柏林、伊斯坦布尔、巴黎、伦敦、悉尼、日本、新加坡和中国各地都能找到珍珠奶茶店。

But all this may come to a screeching halt, thanks to a toxic food starch scandal.

但由于一起有毒食用淀粉丑闻，所有这一切可能会戛然而止。

Since mid-May, Taiwanese health authorities have confiscated over 312 tons of food starch a key ingredient in bubble tea that was found to have been tainted with maleic acid, an unapproved food additive that can cause kidney failure when consumed in large doses.

自5月中旬以来，台湾卫生部门已查获逾312吨被检测出含有马来酸的食用淀粉。食用淀粉是珍珠奶茶的一个重要原料。马来酸是一种非法食品添加剂，大量摄入可能造成肾衰竭。

The toxic starch has also poisoned Taiwan’s food exports. On Wednesday, Malaysia announced an immediate ban on 11 food items imported from Taiwan after Singapore imposed similar ban over the weekend.

毒淀粉还“毒倒”了台湾的食品出口企业。周三，马来西亚宣布立即禁止11种台湾食品的进口。上周末，新加坡实施了类似的禁令。

This is the second island-wide food scare in two years after the discovery of the pervasive use of plasticizer a chemical additive to use to make food more pliable in May 2011.

这是两年中台湾曝出的第二起全岛范围的食品丑闻。2011年5月，台湾食品行业被曝普遍使用塑化剂。塑化剂是一种化学添加剂，可以使食品变得更加松软。

Food starch is a common ingredient in many Taiwanese traditional dishes. Apart from bubble tea, it is also used to make gluttonous dumplings, Hakka rice noodles and sweet taro balls.

食用淀粉是很多台湾传统美食中的一种常见原料。除珍珠奶茶外，食用淀粉还用于饺子、客家米粉和香芋丸。

“In Taiwan, deep-fried chicken nuggets and icy bubble tea are as popular and common as pepperoni pizza and cold beer in the U.S.,” said Xiao Lin, a beverage hawker at Danshui night market in New Taipei City.

新北市淡水夜市的饮料商贩林萧（音）说，在台湾，炸鸡块和冰珍珠奶茶就像美国的意大利香肠披萨和冰镇啤酒一样受欢迎，一样常见。

The self-described “food entreprenuer” told China Real Time that sales of bubble tea can go up to 500 cups a day during the peak summer season, but now most customers are opting for cheaper drinks, such as lemonade or plum juice.

这位自称“美食企业家”的人对《华尔街日报》“中国实时报”栏目说，夏天旺季时，珍珠奶茶每天最多可卖掉500杯，但现在大部分顾客选择更便宜的饮料，比如柠檬汁或酸梅汁。

Frank Chen, a sophomore at the nearby Tamkang University said although he is a “bubble tea addict,” he and his friends will stop buying the milk tea drinks until it has been proven safe.

附近淡江大学(Tamkang University)的大二学生Frank Chen说，尽管他特别喜欢喝珍珠奶茶，除非奶茶的安全性得到证实，否则他和他的朋友们不会再买奶茶喝了。

“The government needs to mete out new food safety measures soon or else get ready for a strong protest. We, the food vendors of the night markets, helped put Taiwan’s food on the map and shouldn’t be punished for government’s oversight. Foreign tourists may not always buy souvenirs but they are always happy to try Taiwan’s food,” Mr. Lin said.

林萧说，政府需要尽快出台新的食品安全措施，否则的话，就准备好应对我们的强烈抗议吧；我们这些夜市食品商贩让台湾的美食有口皆碑，不应该因为政府的疏忽而受到惩罚；外国游客也许并不都会购买纪念品，但是他们总是愿意品尝台湾的小吃。

According to the Taiwan Tourism Bureau, over 70% of tourists to Taiwan visit night markets.

根据台湾观光局的数据，超过70%的来台游客会去逛夜市。

The Taiwanese government promised after the plasticizer problems in 2011 that it would beef up the island’s food safety standards with an amendment to the Act Governing Food Sanitation. But the amendment remains stuck in the legislative pipeline.

2011年曝出塑化剂丑闻之后，台湾政府承诺将加强台湾的食品安全标准，修订《食品卫生管理法》。但修订案目前仍然没有出台。

“Have we not learned anything in two years?” asked an editorial in the United Daily, a newspaper typically sympathetic to the ruling Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party.

台湾报纸《联合日报》(United Daily)的一篇社论文章说，两年里我们难道没有吸取任何教训吗？该报通常同情执政的国民党。

The editorial also cited starch distributors as saying the practice of adding maleic acid to food starch has been around for over a decade.

这篇文章还援引淀粉分销商的话说，在食用淀粉中添加马来酸已经有10多年的时间了。

Taiwan’s Cabinet on Wednesday called a last-minute international news conference to address the scandal, but offered little new information. Instead officials repeated calls for harsher punishment for violators to be included as part of the stalled amendment.

台湾行政院周三临时召开新闻发布会，以便应对此次的丑闻，但没有提供任何新的消息。官员们一再要求在陷入停滞的修正案中增加对违规者实施更严厉惩罚的条款。

“The past law did not impose a strict enough regulation on our food manufacturers,” health minister Chiu Wen-ta said, adding that the current systems of fines “did not deter some illegal food manufacturers.”

台湾行政院卫生署署长邱文达说，过去的法律对我们的食品生产商没有足够严格的规定。他还说，现行的罚款制度未对部分非法食品生产商起到震慑作用。

In any case, Taiwan can little afford further damage to the reputation of its food industry, particularly as South Korea, not content with burying its Taiwanese competitors in the tech sector, is also making a huge push to showcase its traditional cuisines as a major attraction for foreign tourists.

无论怎样，台湾都承受不起食品行业的声誉遭受进一步的打击，特别是在韩国也在大力宣传其传统美食以作为吸引外国游客的一大特色之际──韩国并不满足于在科技行业击败台湾的竞争对手。