Weight worries rise in boys, especially minorities. Black girls are less likely than white girls to diet or otherwise try to lose weight, but those racial differences are reversed among boys, a new study suggests. [News Source]

Genetic test for Alzheimer’s divides experts. Two to four of every 100 people unknowingly carry a combination of genes that renders them unusually vulnerable to Alzheimer's disease, and if you want to find out whether you're one of them, the Philadelphia company Smart Genetics is about to offer a test you can order over the Web. [News Source]

Would you make a deposit to ‘biobank’? Hoping to link illnesses to genetics and factors like diet, smoking, or pollution, the U.S. government is considering recruiting a half-million Americans to contribute their DNA and health information to a national "biobank." [News Source]

Pectin, whey encapsulate vitamins for beverage (Food Production Daily) At a protein:pectin ratio of 2:1 researchers from the Institute on Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods at Laval University in Quebec report that complexes containing the water-soluble vitamin thiamine could be prepared at pH 3.5, showing the potential of such vitamin-rich complexes for formulation in acidic beverages. [News Source]

Pectin, whey encapsulate vitamins for beverage (Food Navigator) At a protein:pectin ratio of 2:1 researchers from the Institute on Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods at Laval University in Quebec report that complexes containing the water-soluble vitamin thiamine could be prepared at pH 3.5, showing the potential of such vitamin-rich complexes for formulation in acidic beverages. [News Source]

Va. official cites stringent water quality rules following report; Kingsport official says water is safe. Scott County Public Service Authority Executive Director Dan Danko says rules governing water quality in Virginia are among the most stringent in the country. [News Source]

Alert on tiny ‘toxic’ food additives. Australian foods could contain additives that might be harmful because of their tiny size, according to a report by the environmental group Friends of the Earth. [News Source]

The Supermarket Sleuth | Vitamin water (Miami Herald) It used to be said that someone with a great sales pitch could sell ice to Eskimos. Perhaps the 21st century version should be hawking vitamin water to Americans. [News Source]

Ask Dr. H: Avoiding colds, without Vitamin C (The Philadelphia Inquirer) Question: I've been taking Vitamin C for years to keep from getting a winter cold, and I think that it does help. A friend of mine thinks that it doesn't really work and it's all in my head. What do you think? [News Source]

Ask Dr. H: Avoiding colds, without Vitamin C (The Philadelphia Inquirer) Question: I've been taking Vitamin C for years to keep from getting a winter cold, and I think that it does help. A friend of mine thinks that it doesn't really work and it's all in my head. What do you think? [News Source]