You’ve probably heard the old joke that chocolate milk comes from brown cows. In the minds of some people, that idea is all too real.

巧克力牛奶来自棕色奶牛，你可能听过这个并不新鲜的玩笑，但在有些人看来，这个说法听起来太像真的了。

Just to avoid any confusion right off the bat ― chocolate milk is just regular milk that has been mixed with chocolate syrup¹ or cocoa powder.

为了避免在看到这个玩笑的当下产生任何疑惑，事实是：巧克力牛奶只是将巧克力糖浆或可可粉掺到平常的牛奶里。

But a survey conducted by the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy found that 7 percent of American adults believe that chocolate milk comes from brown cows. Food and Wine covered the survey on June 1, but the statistic² went viral on Thursday after the Washington Post published its report on the findings.

美国乳品业研发中心（Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy）做了一项调查，结果显示百分之七的美国人认为巧克力牛奶来自棕色奶牛。6月1日，食品酒业（Food and Wine）把调查结果压了下来，但是华盛顿邮报却公开了调查结果，6月15日，这一结论流传开来。

One problem ― it’s tough to gauge³ the survey’s reliability⁴. It’s possible, for instance, that some people were simply trying to be funny while answering the question. The center, though, was unable to provide a full copy of the survey. And when asked about the survey’s methodology, McComb only said it was “conducted online.”

调查中存在一个问题：很难估计其可靠性。比如也有可能有些人在回答问题的时候只是在开玩笑。研发中心却表示不能提供完整调查的副本。米克·寇姆（McComb）在被问及调查方法时，只表示是通过“在线调查”的形式。

The Post notes that the finding fits a general pattern of Americans being a bit fuzzy on where their food comes from. For instance, a Department of Agriculture study from the 1990’s found that almost 1 in 5 adults didn’t know hamburgers were beef.

华盛顿邮报说这个调查结果与对食物来源懵懂无知的美国人形象完全吻合。比如上世纪90年代，农业部（Department of Agriculture）就做过一项调查，发现五分之一的美国人不知道汉堡里的肉是牛肉。

In any case, we hope coverage⁵ of this survey helps clear things up for some people. And we’re still left with one burning question ― where do these people think strawberry milk comes from?

不管怎么样，我们都希望这个调查结果的公开能为一些人弄清真相。但是眼下还有一个十万火急的问题：这些认为巧克力牛奶来自棕色奶牛的人对草莓牛奶有什么看法？