And now they’re after our Christmas cookies

Among my favorite traditions this time of year is baking Christmas cookies. And it wouldn't be Christmas without leaving some of those cookies out for Santa.

But there are anti-obesity activists who are upset that Santa's a bit rounder than government weight tables would like. Former U.S. Surgeon General Steven Galson asserted that "Santa is no different" when it comes to setting a good example for kids. Meme Roth, one of the many self-appointed attack dogs against the humble cookie, said that St. Nick's rotund physique is no matter for merriment: "We're talking morbid obesity, which is not jolly."

But some would-be Scrooges won't be happy merely to get Santa on a treadmill, with celery sticks (no peanut butter!) replacing the cookies on his midnight treat spread. Food makers, including us part-time cookie bakers, are their next target.

I will show these tidings of Christmas future, if the activists get their way. Before paying for butter, eggs and sugar to bake with, the cashier will ask, "Where are your sugar ration cards?"

Ration cards, you ask? One writer in U.S. News & World Report speculated a program that set a population limit for sugar in food would be a good idea. Companies would go to Wall Street to buy and sell sugar credits, and individuals would get ration cards.

Once your papers are in order and the cashier registers the ration cards, you will see the register price. It will be a lot higher. The government will pass a "fat tax," a tax on any ingredient used to bake a cookie. Sugar, butter and chocolate chips will all suffer a significant price hike.

They will start with soda, but that won't reduce people's calorie intake enough. Duke-National University of Singapore researchers predicted a soda tax will only reduce Americans' daily calorie consumption by 1 percent. That won't be enough to fight obesity, so revenue-hungry politicians will take aim at the cookie next.

By Christmas Eve, you will prepare to lay out cookies and milk for Santa. You will have the TV on, and a public service announcement will remind retailers and adults: "Remember to ID for cookies this holiday season!"

ID for cookies? Yes, that will be made law, giving three activist researchers from California their way. They declared in the journal Nature that sugar's "toxic" like smoking and demanded it be controlled like alcohol or tobacco. Regulators will start by prohibiting selling drinks with added sugar to teens under 17; prohibition for cookies and snacks will follow .

Fortunately, these visions of all-too-real proposals need not come to pass. Cookies and chocolate milk aren't chardonnay, and everybody knows that. As for taxes, Denmark recently repealed its tax on butter, which even applied to Danishes. Californians rejected soda taxes by more than 2-to-1 margins. And all of these regulations may not be necessary in the long run: A recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows sugar consumption is falling - by 3.5 percent since 2000 - by personal responsibility alone.

That doesn't mean Grinch-y bureaucrats won't try to make these harebrained schemes happen: Who would have thought that New York City would ban sodas larger than 16 ounces before this year?

But St. Nick's been around the block a few times, and I for one wouldn't bet against the jolly old elf getting his cookies for years to come.

J. Justin Wilson is the senior research analyst at the Center for Consumer Freedom, a nonprofit coalition supported by restaurants, food companies and consumers to promote personal responsibility and protect consumer choices.