Solar eclipse and radiation levels

[sganesh88]

I was instructed by my parents not to eat anything during the solar eclipse that occurred yesterday. Though this is rubbished as a superstition, i also hear reasons that goes like, "The UV radiation received by Earth is higher during the eclipse period triggering the growth of some microbes and consequently infecting the food that we eat"
I don't see any reason why the amount of UV should increase during the solar eclipse period but to my surprise i came across a paper by some Biophysicists who have observed documented such increased levels.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/x826423w10j76744/
Is this true?
Apart from some alleged gravitational anomalies, is there any other remarkable event that's associated with a solar eclipse. I always thought it was nothing different from that of my hand obscuring the light bulb; just that eclipses occur in a much larger scale.

 

[DaveC426913]

I just want to establish your stance:

1] You are aware that, in reality, this is complete hokey wive's tale.
2] You're curious to see if maybe there's any grain of truth that might have given rise to this superstition.

 

[sganesh88]

@Dave
Exactly.
Thats why i asked

is there any other remarkable event that's associated with a solar eclipse?

I thought there was no basis to think that UV should increase during a solar eclipse; even when the moon doesn't interfere-normal non-eclipse condition- the same UV would keep entering the earth. But that springerlink page says otherwise.