Salted fish is a common food that is popular in the south of China. It is chewy (有嚼劲的) and adds a salty flavor (滋味) to other dished. But eating too much salted fish can give you cancer (癌症), according to a list of cancer-causing foods that was published by the China Food and Drug Administration.

Salted fish is produced with a large amount of salt, which later turns into nitrites (亚硝酸盐). When nitrites reach our stomach, they turn into another kind of chemical that can cause cancer, Huang Yufang from the Cancer of Guangzhou Medical University told Xinhua News Agency.

So does this mean we can’t eat salted fish anymore?

“People don’t need to worry too much. It has to do with how often you eat certain foods and how much of them you eat,” Huang said. If you really like eating salted fish, you can eat a small amount once or twice a month. You should also eat more fruit and vegetables that are rich in vitamin C, as this can help to prevent the formation (形成) of nitrites.

In fact, there are many foods we often eat that are thought to cause cancer, such as pickles (咸菜), certain fried foods and even red meat, such as pork, lamb and beef. Although these foods may cause cancer, it doesn’t mean a person will get cancer just from eating them, according to the World Health Organization. Cancer is caused by many different factors, such as one’s genes (基因), environment, lifestyle and eating habits. As long as one has a balanced diet, one doesn’t need to avoid cancer- causing foods completely, Fang Yu, a doctor from the Beijing Cancer Hospital, told People’s Daily.

Hello. My name’s Laura. I’m 13 years old and I’m from Cambridge in England I eat some fruit and some bread for breakfast and I drink some juice too. I don’t eat hamburgers. I like them but my mom says they’re not good for me.

Joanna and Penny are my friends. The two girls’ mom says a healthy (健康的) breakfast is good for them. They like milk and they drink it every morning. They also (也) eat bread and some apples for breakfast.

My cousin’s name is Will. Pizza is his favorite food but he doesn’t eat it for breakfast. His mom says lots of pizza isn’t good for him. Will eats an egg and some bread for breakfast. His dad doesn’t drink milk. He doesn’t like it. He drinks orange juice for breakfast and he eats a banana and some bread.

Hello, my name is Mary. I love sports. I like fruit and vegetables. I don’t like ice-cream or hamburgers. So I think I have good eating habits. Kate, Gina, Bill and Jack are my good friends. But our eating habits are not the same. What do they like for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Let’s look at the chart (表格).