Scientists in northeastern France stumbled on the discovery while studying whether diet affects hamsters' ability to reproduce in the wild. They fed a set of hamsters wheat or corn-based diets, each mixed with worms and clover. Roughly equal numbers of pups were born to mothers fed either diet. But while 80% of pups whose moms ate a wheat-based diet lived to be weaned, only 5% of those fed a corn-based diet made it that far. The researchers suspected a lack of vitamin B3 (niacin) was to blame, and confirmed it by again feeding the hamsters corn-based diets, but adding B3 for one group; these mothers didn't consume their young.

Source: Fox News January 31, 2017 18:01 UTC