Dietetic Association’s Race to Monopoly in the Media

Forbes
“Exclusive Leaked Documents: American Dietetic Association is Intentionally Using State Legislatures to Block Alternative Nutrition Providers and Restrict Free Speech” July 9, 2012.


“The (leaked ADA) document says it plain and clear: the reason to surveil and report citizens who provide public nutrition advice is not that there’s any evidence that these citizens actually harm the public. Rather, the reason to surveil and report citizens is that doing so is necessary to maintain licensure laws (which were designed by the ADA explicitly to limit market competition.)” – Michael Ellsberg.

Forbes
“Is the American Dietetic Association Attempting to Limit Market Competition in Nutrition Counseling?” April 4, 2012.

“Dietitian licensure laws have been used in other states to deny practice to highly educated nutrition practitioners who don’t happen to have a Registered Dietitian designation, effectively limiting dietitians’ competition in those states.” – Michael Ellsberg.
Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs  (published in The Detroit News)
“Office of Regulatory Reinvention Issues Recommendations to Deregulate 18 Occupations; Eliminate 9 Boards” April 16, 2012.
“Occupational regulations, while in many cases necessary to protect consumers and public health, operate as a barrier to entry into a given profession. This inhibits entrepreneurship and restricts competition, leading to increased costs and decreased levels of service for consumers.” – LARA. The report recommends deregulating 18 occupations including dietitians and nutritionists.
Associated Press
“Blogger: State Agency Censored Online Health Food Advice Column” May 30, 2012.

“Steven Cooksey says all he wanted to do was help other diabetics get healthy, but a North Carolina agency tried to censor his online healthy food advice column, saying he was not a licensed dietitian. Cooksey filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court, saying the state violated his free speech rights.” – Associated Press.
New York Times
“So You Think You Can Be a Hair Braider?” June 12, 2012.
“Almost nobody is calling for wholesale abolition of professional licensing…A wide range of economists and activists, however, are looking for ways to loosen the rules in a productive way. Michelle Obama has been pushing to make it easier for military spouses, who move frequently, to pursue their careers in new states without bureaucratic entanglements” – New York Times.

Fooducate.org
“Should Nutrition Counseling be Provided Solely by Registered Dietitians?” June 8, 2012

“There are many people making a living from counseling people on nutrition and health – naturopaths, and other nutritionists that studied in alternative programs. There are people with PhDs in nutrition that simply never joined the AND” -Hemi Weingarten (Fooducate.org)

Holistic Primary Care Magazine
“Dietitians Vs. Nutritionists: Licensure Battles Underscore Growth Of The Field” Summer, 2012.
“Under the guise of protecting the public, RD organizations have strengthened the dietitians’ stronghold over the nutrition profession, while simultaneously threatening and ostracizing the practices and livelihoods of thousands of holistic nutrition practitioners.” – Kristen Schepker (Holistic Primary Care Magazine)