Legal constraints and translation variations: The packaging information of plant-based traditional Chinese medicine sold in the United States

The export of traditional Chinese medicinal products (TCMs) poses several problems directly linked to translation. The products themselves and their active ingredients lack notoriety outside Asia. Moreover, claims about the therapeutic virtues of the medicines may not consistently be reproduced as different jurisdictions will not allow them. This article studies the packaging of TCMs sold in the United States of America (USA) using Vinay and Darbelnet's (1995) terminology to identify different methods to translate the product name, its active ingredients, and function claims. The article evaluates how translation choices are conditioned by the ratio of translated text to source text on bilingual Chinese and English packaging. It also reflects on how the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) legal requirements affect what may or not figure on the packaging. Finally, it discusses the value of the different approaches to translation considering these constraints.