No. HB 823
Filed under Healthcare.
Dietetics and Nutrition; Prohibits provision of certain dietetic & nutrition services; authorizes use of certain titles; revises exemptions for certain persons to practice or provide services or activities relating to dietetics or nutrition; revises membership & powers & duties of Dietetics & Nutrition Practice Council; revises requirements for licensure as dietician or nutritionist; revises temporary permit requirements for dieticians & nutritionists; removes authorizations for licensed dietitian, licensed nutritionist, or licensed nutrition counselor for use of certain words in connection licensee's name or place of business.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDFlorida currently licenses one credential covering both dietetics and nutrition. The new law splits it into two: dietitians, who may treat complex medical conditions, and nutritionists, limited to noncomplex, lower-acuity care.
Every currently licensed dietitian/nutritionist is reclassified on July 1, 2026. Those holding the national registered-dietitian credential become dietitians; those without it become nutritionists, without taking any new exam or coursework.
A license will now be required even for unpaid nutrition therapy, dropping the old pay-based trigger. Several blanket exemptions shrink too: school, extension, and nonprofit educators lose their carve-out, as do hospital and nursing-home dietetic staff.
A new exemption lets out-of-state dietitians and nutritionists treat Florida patients by telehealth without a Florida license, if tied to an in-state consult or an existing patient relationship. Wellness coaches keeping to general, non-diagnostic nutrition information remain unlicensed.
AICreates two separate licenses in place of one combined credential: a licensed dietitian, who may provide medical nutrition therapy for complex conditions, and a licensed nutritionist, confined to noncomplex, lower-acuity cases only.
AIOn July 1, 2026, existing dietitian/nutritionist licensees become dietitians if they hold the national registered-dietitian credential, or nutritionists if they do not, and existing nutrition counselors become nutritionists, with no new exam or coursework.
AIThe license requirement no longer turns on whether the practitioner is paid. Previously only practice for remuneration required a license; the rewritten law requires one for anyone who engages in or offers medical nutrition therapy at all.
AIDeletes, without a direct replacement, the exemption that covered any employee of a licensed hospital, nursing home, assisted living facility, or continuing care facility doing dietetic work under that facility's own compliance rules.
AIThe old exemption covered nutrition educators employed by nonprofits, schools, colleges, and any government agency. It is replaced by a narrower one limited to people delivering nutrition care through the WIC program specifically.
AICreates a new exemption allowing an out-of-state licensed or certified dietitian or nutritionist to provide medical nutrition therapy to a Florida patient via telehealth without a Florida license, if tied to an in-state consult, a patient temporarily in Florida, or continuity-of-care follow-up.
AIConfirms that people delivering only general, non-individualized nutrition education, wellness coaching, or nonmedical weight control need no license, as long as they do not use protected titles or claim to be qualified for medical nutrition therapy.
AIChanges the required composition of the Dietetics and Nutrition Practice Council from four licensed persons of any type to specifically three dietitians and one nutritionist, plus one consumer member age 60 or older.