Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Spanish term or phrase:
su determinación monitoriza la calidad del mismo en origen [y a lo largo de su vida útil]
English translation:
levels can be logged initially [and throughout its shelf life] for quality purposes
Spanish term
Spain
A cut above the rest in translation...
Native in: English (Variants: US, UK, Irish) 
, Spanish (Variants: Standard-Spain, Latin American)
Works in: Spanish to English, French to English, English to Spanish, and 2 more.
su determinación monitoriza la calidad del mismo en origen
This is from an article about food labeling.
I've done lots of research on this D-ascorbic acid, but I'm still quite confused as to what this part of the sentence is trying to say. And I'm going around in circles with it at this stage, so thought I'd put it out there to see if anyone else can make sense of it.
Here it is in context:
"El ácido D-ascórbico es un ácido orgánico que puede encontrarse de forma natural en distintos alimentos con base vegetal (zumos, hortalizas, frutas, etc) o de forma artificial como aditivo conservante (productos cárnicos, postres, etc). Su potente acción antioxidante evita la oxidación de los alimentos y su determinación monitoriza la calidad del mismo en origen y a lo largo de su vida útil."
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Source language: European Spanish
Target language: U.S. English
Many thanks in advance
Feb 19, 2018 23:37: James A. Walsh Created KOG entry
Feb 21, 2018 22:43: James A. Walsh changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/141521">James A. Walsh's</a> old entry - ""su determinación monitoriza la calidad del mismo en origen [y a lo largo de su vida útil].""" to """its levels can be logged initially [and throughout its shelf life] for quality purposes."""
Apr 4, 2019 23:07: James A. Walsh changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/141521">James A. Walsh's</a> old entry - "su determinación monitoriza la calidad del mismo en origen [y a lo largo de su vida útil]"" to ""its levels can be logged initially [and throughout its shelf life] for quality purposes""
Proposed translations
United States
Each translation a gem!
Native in: English (Variant: US) 
Works in: Spanish to English, Portuguese to English
the extent to which it is present affects the quality of food at its source
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Note added at 8 hrs (2018-02-16 02:13:50 GMT)
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Yes, "en origen" is diffcult.
| Thanks, Muriel. I really like your suggestion of "the extent to which it is present" - I've been trying to express that notion out all day! Really not sure that "en origen" means "at source" here though (what does that even mean?) Keep thinking it's more along the lines of "at the outset" (or the notion of when a product actually goes on the shelf), but that doesn't seem right either..! Ah! |
United Kingdom
Chartered linguist, translator & tutor
Native in: Spanish (Variant: Standard-Spain) , Catalan
Works in: Catalan to Spanish, English to Spanish, Galician to Spanish, and 11 more.
its determination monitors the quality of it from the beginning
"Del mismo" talks about the Ascorbic Acid, mentioned a few sentences before this one. So la calidad del mismo talks about the quality of the acid itself. It's a bit tricky sometimes to translate these specific explanations from one language into another because sometimes there are not the exact words, so you have to use what's closer to it and its meaning. Hope this helps a bit.
Discussion
Source:
"Su potente acción antioxidante evita la oxidación de los alimentos y su determinación monitoriza la calidad del mismo en origen y a lo largo de su vida útil."
Target:
"Its powerful antioxidant action prevents food oxidation, and its levels can be logged initially and throughout its shelf life for quality purposes."
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Thanks a lot for taking the time ;-)