Ubiquitous in television ads in the United States that began 30 years ago, Chia Pets were called “the pottery that grows.” Mixing chia seeds and water on the outside of an animal-shaped terra-cotta figurine produced a plant resembling green hair.
「奇異子寵物」（編按：奇異子即鼠尾草籽，奇異子寵物即奇異子卡通造型盆栽）在美國電視廣告中無所不在，始自30年前。人們當時稱它「會長大的陶器」。在動物造型的紅土小塑像外塗上奇異子與水的混合物，就會長出像綠色毛髮的植物。

Now, chia is having a second life as a nutritional “it” item. Whole and ground chia seeds are being added to fruit drinks, snack foods and cereals and sold on their own to be baked into cookies and sprinkled on yogurt.
如今，奇異子另獲新生，成為營養品。整粒或磨碎的奇異子或者加入各種果汁飲料、點心、穀類加工食品，或者單獨販售，用以烘焙餅乾或撒在優格上。

Grown primarily in Mexico and Bolivia, chia, like fish, is rich in omega-3 fatty acids. It also has antioxidants, protein and fiber. Recognition of its nutritional value can be traced as far back as the Aztecs.
奇異子主要產於墨西哥與玻利維亞。和魚一樣富含omega-3脂肪酸，另外還含有抗氧化劑、蛋白質與纖維。人類認識它的營養價值可追溯到阿茲特克族全盛時期。

Companies like Dole and Nature’s Path have introduced chia products, which have begun showing up in mainstream grocery stores. Mintel, a market research firm, counted 100 products containing chia in a presentation it did in March on the potential of increasing the use of the seeds in dairy products.
含奇異子的食品已經開始出現在美國的主流商店，都樂食品與Nature’s Path等業者已相繼推出多項產品。Mintel市場研究公司去年三月舉行發表會，介紹把更多奇異子種子用於乳製品的潛力時，共列出100種產品含有奇異子。

“About two years ago, our retailers came to us and said, ‘We need you to be in this business everyone is talking about, the business of chia seeds,’ ” said Michael P. Hirsch, vice president of Joseph Enterprises, which sells Chia Pets and other novelty products and has now added chia seeds and milled chia.
約瑟夫公司專門販賣「奇異子寵物」與其他新奇產品，目前並已納入奇異子與奇異子粉，副總裁赫斯契說：「大約兩年前我們的零售商跑來告訴我們，『我們希望貴公司加入人人都在談論的這門生意，奇異子的生意』。

Last spring, high demand collided with weather patterns that depressed production, raising prices and the awareness that chia had moved beyond the realm of health food stores into the broader market.
去年春季市場需求熱烈，氣候型態卻使奇異子產量減少、價格上揚，人們這才發現奇異子不再只蹲在健康食品專賣店，已進入更廣大的市場。

Janie Hoffman, founder of Mamma Chia fruit juices, was one of the first people to recognize chia’s re-emerging potential as a food. She was complaining about flax seed – “I hate how you have to grind it and then it goes rancid” – to a friend, who asked why she wasn’t using chia instead. “She said it had no taste, it’s high in antioxidants, huge in omega-3, a far superior seed,” Ms. Hoffman said. “In short, she made me feel like an idiot – no one was using flax seed anymore.”
「媽媽奇異子果汁」創辦人珍妮‧霍夫曼是最早看出奇異子具備再成為食品潛力的人士之一。有一天，她向一名友人抱怨亞麻子道：「先得磨碎，擺久了又會散發油耗味，真煩人。」對方問她為什麼不改用奇異子。霍夫曼說：「她說它沒有味道，而且富含抗氧化劑與omega-3脂肪酸，是好得多的種子。簡單說，她讓我覺得自己像白癡；已經沒人在用亞麻子了。」

So she bought some chia seeds online and was quickly sold on their benefits. “I started incorporating it into everything I was eating,” she said. “Stir fries, yogurt, beverages – there really wasn’t anything in my kitchen that didn’t have chia in it.”
她事後上網買了些奇異子，很快就領受它的好處。她說：「我開始把它融入我吃的一切食物。炒菜、優格、飲料。我廚房裡找不到不含奇異子的食物。」

In 2009, Ms. Hoffman developed fruit juices with chia seeds suspended in them. (Exposure to liquid gives the seeds a sticky, gelatinous coating, which is how they bond to the terra-cotta pets.)
2009年，霍夫曼開發含有懸浮奇異子的果汁（接觸液體會使奇異子產生有黏性的凝膠狀外層。這正是它附著於紅土成為奇異子寵物的原理）。

“My first sales call a year and a half later was to Whole Foods in the southern Pacific region,” she said. “I walked in to meet the buyer and presented this chia beverage and said I would like it to go into a few stores. She said, ‘No, I want you in all of them’ ” – about 40 stores – “and that was that.”
她說：「一年半以後我第一次出門推銷，拜訪太平洋濱南部地區的全食超市公司。我走進去與採購負責人見面，拿出奇異子飲料，表示希望能在幾個店面上架。她說，『不。我要它在全部店面上架』。」大約40家。「就是這樣。」

Within 11 months, Mamma Chia products were in Whole Foods stores across the United States, as well as in hundreds of bodegas and health and natural foods stores.
11個月內，「媽媽奇異子果汁」的產品已經陳列在全美各地的全食連鎖超市，此外還有數百家賣酒類與雜貨的店面，以及健康天然食品店。

“I personally think demand for it will grow for sure, though how big it will get is still a question,” said Brad C. Bartlett, president of Dole Food Company’s packaged foods business.
都樂公司包裝食品部門總裁巴雷特說：「我個人認為，它的需求絕對會增加，增加多少還不知道。」

Dole chose chia as the first ingredient it would promote in its new Nutrition Plus line of products, which aim to provide a functional benefit to consumers.
都樂食品準備推出「營養加分」系列產品，為消費者提供功能性的好處。該公司選擇奇異子為推廣的第一種成分。

It won out over other candidates, Mr. Bartlett said, because of its long history as a source of nutrition – the Aztecs used it for many purposes – and because it does not require much processing to confer its benefits.
巴雷特說，它勝過其他成分，因為人類早已知道它很營養，阿茲特克人就把它用於許多地方，而且它不需太多加工營養即可為人體吸收。

Mr. Hirsch of Joseph Enterprises was less certain that chia would be a blockbuster, even though his company is adding protein bars to its line of edible chia products. He said he was concerned about the supply of chia seeds, which are harvested once a year and grown in rotation, usually with corn.
約瑟夫公司準備把蛋白條加入奇異子系列的食品，該公司的赫斯契並不確定奇異子一定會引起熱潮。他說，他比較擔心奇異子的供應問題。奇異子一年一穫，而且通常與玉米輪作。

Australia has recently joined Mexico and Bolivia in the chia-production act with its own type of seed that is grown somewhat differently, Mr. Hirsch said. But it is a difficult crop to grow outside of the traditional areas, and the market is tiny, about $70 million.
赫斯契說，澳洲最近加入墨西哥與玻利維亞種植奇異子的行列，種的是略微不同的自有品種。然而在傳統產區以外奇異子不易種植，市場也很小，產值約僅7000萬美元。

“Everybody is looking at this,” he said, “because everybody is always looking for something new.”
他說：「人人都在注意它，因為人們隨時都在找新東西。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/24/business/chia-seeds-gain-popularity-for-nutritional-benefits.html

2013-01-15聯合報/G5版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 陳世欽譯 原文參見紐時週報十一版上