Herman Taller (5 May 1906, Baia de Aramă – June 1984, Warsaw, Poland)[1] was a Romanian-born American obstetrician who advocated weight loss based on a low-carbohydrate diet with polyunsaturated fats including safflower oil.

He was the author of the controversial best selling book, Calories Don't Count which made false health claims.

[3] In the early 1960s he developed a low-carbohydrate diet consisting of several high-fat meals a day such as red meat, fried chicken and mayonnaise with a high-dose of polyunsaturated fat in the form of safflower oil capsules which he argued would stimulate the pituitary gland to burn off fat at a faster rate.

In 1962, FDA Commissioner George P. Larrick commented: "This bestselling book was deliberately created and used to promote these worthless safflower oil capsules for the treatment of obesity, cardiovascular diseases and other serious conditions.

[9] Later, after a trial, and an unfavourable appeal on the confusion of the jury instructions about misdemeanors, Taller was found guilty of mail fraud and conspiracy in 1967,[10] fined $7000, placed on probation for two years, and sentencing suspended on some charges.