Your Health: Experts recommend daily doses of vitamin D at 1,000 to 2,000 units (Tri-State Neighbor) Q:As a physician, I have been testing my patients for 25-hydroxy vitamin D for several months. Many are deficient, and some have symptoms of pain and muscle weakness. [News Source]

Ethanol and hunger.

As a result of a mix of federal tax incentives and protectionism, a huge swath of the U.S. corn crop that would otherwise go to food for people and animals is diverted to ethanol.

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Drop these artificial colourings, says agency. Children's campaigners today welcomed a recommendation by the Food Standards Agency to ban six artificial food colourings [News Source]

Food crisis looms in Bangladesh. With the price of food skyrocketing around the world, desperately poor and overpopulated Bangladesh is considered one of the world's most vulnerable nations. [News Source]

Biofuels combat climate change. Biofuels must be added to transport fuel to combat climate change, and fears over their environmental value and influence on food prices should not discourage the government from ordering an increase in their use, a group of agricultural scientists said. [News Source]

Trans-fats linked to breast cancer risk in study. Trans-fats, which are being phased out of food because they clog arteries, may raise the risk of getting breast cancer, European researchers reported on Friday. [News Source]

Out of thin air. Even a bonanza of airborne nitrogen, the nutrient that sets the limit for how much of what grows where, passing through lung or leaf does neither animal nor plant a bit of good: One of life's most precious resources just blows away unused with every breath. [News Source]

The costs of meat and fish. Industrial meat production and fish harvests have dropped the economic cost of animal proteins in recent decades. But much of that fiscal savings has come at the expense of the environment. [News Source]

The other global crisis: Rush to biofuels is driving up price of food. A dramatic rise in the worldwide cost of food is provoking riots throughout the Third World where millions more are facing starvation. It threatens to become the biggest crisis of the 21st century. [News Source]