Title 5
Businesses and Professions

Chapter 64
Dietitian/Nutritionist Act

R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-64-12

§ 5-64-12. Exemptions.

This chapter shall not be construed as preventing or restricting the practice, services, or activities of:

(1) Any person who does not call himself or herself a dietitian/nutritionist from furnishing nutritional information to customers or any consumer as to the use of foods, food products, or dietary supplements in connection with the marketing and distribution of those products; or to the general public for educational purposes and any person who provides a weight-loss program and/or health-maintenance counseling, as long as the person does not engage in nutrition counseling for the management of disease, and does not hold himself or herself out to be a dietitian/nutritionist.

(2) A person licensed or certified in this state under any other law from engaging in the profession or occupation for which the person is licensed or certified and any person holding a doctoral degree from an accredited institution in nutrition or a related field as determined by the board; and any person with a bachelor’s degree in home economics from furnishing nutrition information incidental to the practice of his or her profession.

(3) A person employed as a dietitian/nutritionist by the government of the United States or the state or by a participating local agency of the special supplemental food program for women, infants and children, if the person practices solely under direction or control of the organization by which the person is employed.

(4) A student enrolled in a board-approved academic program in dietetics/nutrition.

(5) Family members, friends, or acquaintances who provide gratuitous nutrition advice as long as the advisor does not hold himself or herself out to be a dietitian/nutritionist.

(6) Not-for-profit health-related agencies, as described in 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3), that provide nutrition information in the normal course of doing business.

History of Section.
P.L. 1988, ch. 643, § 1; P.L. 1991, ch. 385, § 1.