AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4 and Title 63, relative to dietetics and nutrition.
SB2579 rewrites Tennessee’s Dietetics and Nutrition Practice Act and creates a new regulatory framework for dietitians and nutritionists. The bill defines key terms such as medical nutrition therapy, therapeutic diet, nutrition assessment, nutrition intervention, and complex versus non-complex conditions. It limits the use of protected titles like “dietitian,” “nutritionist,” “LD,” and “LN” to licensed individuals, and makes unauthorized use of those titles a Class A misdemeanor.
The bill establishes a new Board of Dietitian and Nutritionist Examiners with nine gubernatorial appointees, including licensed dietitians, licensed nutritionists, a physician, and a public member. The board is given authority to license applicants, set fees, adopt rules and ethics standards, investigate complaints, discipline licensees, issue temporary permits, administer background checks, and participate in the Dietitians Licensure Compact. The act also sets detailed education, supervised practice, and examination requirements for licensure, including pathways for dietitians and nutritionists, reciprocity for substantially equivalent out-of-state credentials, and provisions for telehealth practice and supervision of students and trainees.
SB2579 would substantially revise Tennessee Code Annotated Title 63, Chapter 25 by replacing the existing dietetics and nutrition provisions with a more detailed licensing and enforcement scheme. It would formalize who may provide medical nutrition therapy, distinguish between complex and non-complex cases, and specify when licensed nutritionists may order oral therapeutic diets, recommend supplements, or order certain nutrition-related lab tests. It also updates state board structure and authority, creates new licensure standards, and preserves existing dietitian licenses or pending applications filed before July 1, 2026 under prior law. The bill takes effect July 1, 2026 for most purposes, with rulemaking authority effective immediately upon becoming law.
The available voting history shows strong support in committee, with unanimous or near-unanimous passage at each recorded stage. The Senate Government Operations Committee recommended passage 8-0, and the Senate Health and Welfare Committee recommended passage with amendments 9-0. No committee transcript objections are provided, and the recorded votes suggest the bill was viewed favorably as a professional regulation and public protection measure.
The main policy tension in the bill is between consumer protection and professional scope expansion. Supporters appear to favor clearer licensing standards, title protection, and defined authority for dietitians and nutritionists to provide medical nutrition therapy, including telehealth and certain ordering functions. Potential points of contention include the bill’s criminal penalty for unauthorized title use, the detailed educational and supervised-practice requirements, and the line it draws between licensed medical nutrition therapy and broader wellness, health coaching, supplement advice, and non-medical weight control services. The bill also carefully limits practice in complex cases and inpatient or high-acuity settings, which may reflect concern about overlapping scopes with physicians and other healthcare professionals.