The American Dietetic Association (ADA) wants to create a monopoly on state nutritional licensure. This organization-which lists among its corporate sponsors soft drink giants Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, cereal manufacturers General Mills and Kellogg’s, candy maker Mars, and Unilever, the multinational corporation that owns many of the world’s consumer products brands in foods and beverages-already has a stranglehold on who can dispense nutritional counseling at the state level.  

The latest battle is in Michigan. So far, the Michigan Board of Dietetic and Nutrition has voted to accept the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) as the sole certifying agency. The CDR is the ADA’s credentialing arm. We recently sent Michigan officials a letter asking them to recognize more than one certifying organization. We are requesting, at a minimum, the acceptance of reputable nutrition-based credentialing agencies such as the Certification Board for Nutrition Specialists (CBNS) or the American Clinical Board of Nutrition.

As our position paper notes, there is a major philosophical difference between nutritionists and dietitians-they are two entirely different fields of study and practice. In general:

 * Nutritionists are health practitioners with comprehensive knowledge of the impact nutrition has on the whole body. They focus on nutrition therapy for better health, metabolism, and biochemistry, and practice an integrative approach to health, concentrating on the prevention and treatment of chronic disease.

 * Dietitians’ training focuses on institutional diets and food service management-developing diets for hospital patients, school food service programs, and nursing homes, although they can also provide individualized counseling on diet and disease. Hospital food by law is controlled by dietitians, and almost everyone recognizes that the poor food in hospitals is a medical disgrace.

 * As noted, that there can be an overlap in the type of work each profession practices. There are many different dietary and nutritional therapies to choose from, which is why freedom of consumer choice is absolutely essential in this field.