在英国今年的圣诞节大餐中，火鸡这道传统美食可能要缺席了。天然气价格上涨导致二氧化碳供应短缺，而火鸡屠宰过程中需要用到二氧化碳，因此如果二氧化碳持续短缺，不仅圣诞节吃不到火鸡，其他家禽、肉类和碳酸饮料的供应都可能受到影响。

 

The traditional British Christmas dinner could be missing its centrepiece this year if a shortage of carbon dioxide (CO2) caused by surging natural gas prices persists, leading turkey farmer Paul Kelly told Reuters on Tuesday.

火鸡养殖大户保罗·凯利上周二（9月21日）告诉路透社称，如果天然气价格上涨导致的二氧化碳供应短缺持续下去，今年英国传统圣诞大餐的主菜可能要缺席了。

 

Kelly, who hatches 2 million of his own breed KellyBronze birds a year, accounting¹ for 27% of all turkeys sold at Christmas, said CO2 was used in the slaughter² process and more importantly to keep the product fresh.

凯利自有的凯利青铜火鸡品种每年要孵出200万只火鸡，占据了圣诞火鸡市场份额的27%。凯利说，火鸡屠宰过程尤其是产品保鲜都需要用到二氧化碳。

 

"Carbon dioxide is used to extend shelf life, so when you put a turkey in a bag, you suck the air out and you blow carbon dioxide in and that stops the bugs³ growing, " he said.

他说：“二氧化碳的使用可延长保质期，我们把火鸡放入包装袋后，会抽掉包装袋中的空气再灌进二氧化碳，避免细菌滋生。”

 

"We can't create millions and millions of turkeys all in the week before Christmas, it has to be spread over a few weeks so if (CO2 production) really wasn't back up and running, it would be another car crash."

“我们无法赶在圣诞节前的一周内生产出数百万只火鸡成品，而是需要几周时间，所以如果二氧化碳生产不恢复，将会是灾难性的打击。”

 

The shortage of CO2 will hit meat processing in a matter of days if supplies do not come back online, the industry has warned, which would then make the alternatives of a joint⁴ of beef or a goose also hard to find.

该行业警告称，如果二氧化碳供应问题不解决，几天后肉类加工业就会受影响，牛肉、鹅肉等肉制品也将难以买到。

 

A gin and tonic⁵ could also be off the menu, with the carbonated drinks industry facing the same issue.

加奎宁水的杜松子酒也将会从菜单上消失，碳酸饮料业也会面临同样的难题。

 

Later on Tuesday, Britain struck a deal with CF Industries for the US company to restart the production of CO2. The gas is a byproduct of the fertiliser it produces at two plants in northern England and the company had halted operations due to the soaring price of gas.

上周二晚些时候，英国和美国CF工业公司达成协议重启二氧化碳的生产。二氧化碳是该公司在英格兰北部的两家工厂生产化肥的副产品，先前由于天然气价格飞涨，该公司已经让工厂停工。

 

The news will come as a relief to Kelly, who said the problem could be solved pretty quickly.

这个消息能让凯利松一口气，他表示问题应该能很快解决。

 

"The production facilities are there, it's just about turning it on again, and paying the gas bill," he said.

他说：“生产设施都还在，只要重新启动机器，支付天然气账单就可以了。”

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