Come the New Year, the Food and Drug Administration, ignoring the principle that in most cases it's the dose that defines the poison, will issue new regulations designed to remove even trace amounts of hydrogenate oils, commonly known as trans fats, from our diets.

Trans fats have been in our foods since the 1950s to increase shelf life and improve taste. A small amount appears naturally in some foods, but research has determined that large quantities of trans fats in one's diet can be dangerous for long-term health.

But so can large quantities of bacon, and no one has proposed banning bacon, at least not yet, but we're sure that thought has occurred to those who want 16-ounce soft drinks banned while forcing our children to eat cardboard school lunches.

Each American consumes a mere 1.3 grams of trans fats per day. That's roughly 0.6% of our total daily calories, and no research suggests that this poses a health risk. But that's not enough to dissuade the federal nannies from regulating even the most minute aspect of our daily lives.

The irony here is that trans fats were once pushed by liberal groups such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest. This poster child for the food police in 1988 published a book titled "Saturate Fat Attack" that condemned the use of saturated and polyunsaturated fats then in vogue. Food companies soon switched to trans fats, a move for which CSPI proudly took credit.