Today, people all over the world like to eat tomatoes. They put them on pizza, salad, pasta and many other kinds of food. But did you know that a long time ago many people thought that tomatoes were poisonous?
When tomatoes first came to Italy and Britain, most people avoided eating them because they were afraid they would die. Imagine how different your diet would be if people still thought that tomatoes were poisonous! You may think it is silly to be afraid of eating tomatoes, but in fact part of the tomato plant is poisonous. The stems of tomato plants are poisonous, but the red part that you eat is not.
Over time, people realized that tomatoes are good for you. Some doctors even started making medicine out of tomatoes because they thought tomatoes could cure diseases. (marc Langer, staff writer)
PHOTO : AP
今日世界各地的人都喜歡吃蕃茄，將蕃茄加入比薩、沙拉、義大利麵和其他多樣料理中。但你可知，很久以前不少人認為蕃茄有毒？
蕃茄初次進入義大利和英國時，很多人因為怕死而不敢吃。想像若人們仍以為蕃茄有毒，今日餐飲將是何種面貌？你可能認為不敢吃蕃茄很傻，但事實上蕃茄植物確實有部分有毒：蕃茄莖有毒，但我們食用的紅色部分無毒。
日後人們漸漸了解蕃茄有益健康，有些醫生認為蕃茄能治療疾病，甚至開始以蕃茄製藥。 （翻譯：鄭湘儀）
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