We Fought the Law and We Won!

Maybe you can fight city hall! Recently, the state of Michigan’s Office of Regulatory Reinvention (ORR) made 63 recommendations to Governor Snyder. The headline from the press release (from www.michigan.gov dated 4.16.12) stated, “ORR Issues Recommendations to Deregulate 18 Occupations; Eliminate 9 Boards.” One of the occupational boards scheduled for elimination was (cue the drum roll) the Board of Dietetics and Nutrition.

As you know from previous blog posts, I have been writing about the lunacy of the government regulating who can and cannot speak about nutrition and diet. The American Dietetic Association (ADA), who is changing their name to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, has been very busy trying to pass a law in all 50 states which would limit registered dieticians as the only group who is licensed to provide nutritional advice. In Michigan, this law was signed by Governor Granholm in 2006 but was never enforced.

Thankfully, the ORR has made the new recommendations to dissolve the Board of Dietetics and Nutrition. Needless to say, this is good news to the residents of Michigan. We do not need nutrition police deciding who goes to nutrition prison for giving dietary advice.  Now, we need the ORR recommendations passed by the legislature and signed by Governor Snyder.   

There are a handful of states that have passed this silly law. In Michigan, a group was formed (www.michigannutritionassociation.org) to fight against the enforcement of this law. The end result of this fight is the dissolution of the Board of Dietetics and Nutrition.

Once in a while it is nice to feel that we do have the power to fight against idiotic governmental regulations.

The ADA Wants Nutrition Prisons

You’ve got to believe me; I am not trying to pick on registered dieticians (RD’s). Unfortunately, they make it too easy for me. I know some very smart RD’s who are very knowledgeable about nutrition. However, as compared to most of the members of the American Dietetic Association (ADA), the RD’s who are knowledgeable about nutrition are, unfortunately, few and far between.

Presently, we have two-thirds of the U.S. population overweight and one-third obese. Part of the reason we have so much obesity in the U.S. is due to the nonsensical dietary advice the ADA and its members have been promoting. I can assure you, the last thing we need in the U.S. is to have the RD’s control who can and cannot speak about nutrition.

This blog post was prompted by an article in Forbes magazine (4.5.12) titled, “Is the American Dietetic Association Attempting to Limit Market Competition in Nutrition Counseling.” The article can be found here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelellsberg/2012/04/05/american-dietetic-association/

This article is well written and goes into more details about the nefarious activities of the ADA. This article discusses the ADA’s push to pass a terrible law in each state that will only allow RD’s the legal right to talk to patients about nutrition. All others will be subject to fines and jail time.

Let me review what is happening. I posted two blogs about this topic—the first on September 22, 2010 and the second on October 6, 2011. You can access these articles from the archives on my blog page.

The ADA is trying to ensure that only registered dieticians will be licensed to talk with patients about nutrition. If a health professional is not properly licensed to speak to a client about nutrition, he/she would be subject to fine of $10,000 per day of violation and possibly six months of jail. Can you imagine these penalties for counseling someone about nutrition? Think about it, you go into a health food store and the clerk tells you that you should eat less refined carbohydrates. The next thing you know, an ADA enforcer may be there to fine the clerk $10,000 and put them in jail for six months. Does that sound reasonable to you? It is not only health food store clerks who have to worry, it is chiropractors, certified nutritionists, personal trainers, yoga instructors, acupuncturists, naturopaths, homeopaths, nurses and pharmacists who may be barred from speaking to anyone about nutrition.

Maybe we will need nutrition prisons to house all the new inmates. I can hear the prison conversation. “What are you in for? I told someone to eat less carbs and they busted me.” As punishment, perhaps these new prisoners should have to eat food from all the ADA corporate sponsors. Who are these corporate sponsors? Pepsico, Coca-Cola, Mars, Soyjoy, Hershey’s and General Mills are such examples. I think that punishment would be too severe for the nutrition prisoners. But, I digress. Let’s get back to business.

The state of Michigan passed the ADA’s idiotic bill in 2006 and it was signed by the governor of Michigan. Fortunately, this law has not been implemented due to public and professional criticism. My October 6, 2011 blog post contains a letter I sent to the Michigan Office of Regulatory Regulation detailing my complaints about this dumb law.
For those of you that reside in other states, I have two words for you: Watch Out! The ADA is busy trying to pass this dangerous and unnecessary law in all 50 states. They are quiet about it because they do not want anyone to be aware of what they are doing. You have to organize and get the word out. In Michigan, we have formed a group to fight back. More information about this group can be found here: http://michigannutritionassociation.org.

As I said before, we do NOT need the ADA deciding who can and cannot speak about nutrition. This law needs to go away and the ADA should refocus its efforts to properly educate its members about nutrition.

Whether it is from an RD, nurse, or even a health food store clerk, you should have the right to decide who you would like to receive nutritional advice from.