The Licensing Folks Just Want to Protect Us from Misinformation

Why would the Michigan Dietetic Association (MDA) “get blessed under cover of law,” as Steve Bemis so elegantly puts it (in a comment to my previous post)?

In flyers it passed out to legislators and others last year promoting the licensing of dieticians and nutritionists, the MDA offered three key arguments:

1. “To protect Michigan residents from unqualified practitioners…
2. “To improve Michigan residents’ overall health through qualified nutritional advice and therapy.” As one example, the MDA stated that “Michigan’s death rates due to heart disease and diabetes are consistently higher than national standards…Medical nutrition therapy provided by a dietitian is effective in the prevention and treatment of these diseases…
3. To protect Michigan residents from misinformation regarding nutrition and health. The public is concerned about nutrition—this increased demand has spawned a multitude of misinformation by individuals seeking to capitalize on this business opportunity…”

These arguments are so full of holes as to be almost laughable, yet the Michigan legislature, and more than two dozen other state legislatures, have bought into such arguments. The word that probably rings most resonantly with lawmakers is the word “protect,” which is the basis of two of the three arguments. Of course, protection strongly suggests a threat (i.e. fear) that we need to be shielded from. For consumers of raw milk, the threat is supposedly from disease.

The big threat cited by MDA is from “misinformation regarding nutrition.” The term “misinformation” is often used to argue in favor of censorship, and against free speech. Dissidents are dangerous because they are spreading “misinformation.” Which dissidents might the MDA have in mind? Perhaps those encouraging consumption of whole foods, and discouraging consumption of processed foods?

Then there is the argument that somehow the licensed dieticians are going to save us from heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. By encouraging us to eat more pasta and artificially sweetened drinks?

It’s one thing for the MDA and its national superior, the American Dietetic Association (ADA) to say they are protecting us. But to give them real power is something else. And that is what this licensing business is really all about: power. Having the power to license is a little like having the power to operate your own toll road. You have the only show in town, and you collect money from everyone who wants to go down your professional path.

Unfortunately, once the power is given over, it’s very difficult for the state to take back. Just look at the resistance being put up by the milk industry to raw milk, and the possibility we may actually be able to do without a good deal of the pasteurization now required by law.