Participants of the annual Seattle Vegfest 2008 convention were determined to keep the recipes of their featured cuisines secret this past weekend, claiming that they were guarding their fares from the rabid competition.

Displaying various vegetable-themed products, the suppliers happily gave away samples of their foods. However, the Seattle Times reported that most were very adamant about keeping the recipes to themselves

Health officials said Wednesday that Japan has stopped imports of buffalo mozzarella made from Italy after high levels of dioxin, known to increase the likelihood of cancer, were reported in the cheese.

Italian authorities are investigating whether feed given to buffalo herds around the city of Naples was contaminated, possibly made by Naples Mafia or Camorra involved in illegal waste disposal

Low levels of the nutrient folate in the diet of healthy men has been linked to higher rates of chromosomal abnormalities in their sperm. Folate, also protective against birth defects, is found in leafy green vegetables, fruit and legumes.

The study, by the University of California, Berkeley, is featured in the journal Human Reproduction. Women of childbearing age are encouraged to maintain adequate levels of folate in their diet to have healthy eggs

Scientists said today that men who eat a diet-rich green leafy vegetables, fruits and beans, lentils and chickpeas have a higher chance of fathering a healthy child.

In a study that investigates the effects of diet on the quality of sperm, American scientists found that high levels of vitamin B decreases the number of abnormalities that lead to children being born with defects such as Down's syndrome

Researchers have concluded that men and women typically have different tastes in food with men favoring meat and poultry while women tend to prefer fruits and vegetables.

The study is based on the behavior of 14,000 adult men and women surveyed from May 2006 to April 2007 for the Foodborne Disease Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet). The aim of the study was to determine their eating habits, including high risk foods such as undercooked meat and eggs