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Vitamin/nutrient deficiency -- in some cases, maybe so.
But I believe it can also be a behavioral problem in that many dogs (not saying yours Peaches) have been somewhat "shamed" into refraining from pooping indoors and going outside. When they do poop inside some become so ashamed and fearful of reprisals that they literally eat their mess in order to cover up. I've read this theory before on the web.
Thankfully my own dog never developed the habit. But if he had I probably would have tried some of the methods already suggested in this thread. As an extreme measure if all else failed I might try buying one of those shock collars. Whenever I see the pooch going in for a bite it's ZAP time. Dogs do very much tend to learn quickly when surprised like that as to what not to do.
Case in point -- My dog used to have the bad habit of jumping up on people with his front paws. That was tolerable and even cute when he was a pup, but as he got older and bigger, like 60+ lbs bigger, it became a real problem. I learned of a technique on a dog-training TV show one day and decided to try it out... took him to the park, got my then-tenant to tap herself with her hands to encourage him to jump up. I was ready with the choke-chain and leash, and the second he jumped up at her I SNAPPED him to the ground. It scared the crap out of him.
I got her to do it again, this time he was tentative about it, looked around a bit, then decided to go for it again. I snapped him quickly to the ground once again... and that was it. He has never in the ensuing 15 years jumped up at anyone. All from one 2 minute lesson.
So I am inclined to think that any dog would learn very quckly to stay away from the poop if they were zapped a few times whenever they went near it. In fact I bet you'd only have to use it no more than 3 to 6 times before they would get the hint and just never go near it again.
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