People achieving registration are known as Registered Public Health Nutritionists (RPHNutr). Associate registration is also available for graduates who are in the process of gaining sufficient work experience in order to apply for full registration. The Nutrition Society is also starting to accredit degree courses in public health nutrition so that this career path can be selected from the outset (All about Careers in Nutrition UK, 2004). With the growing number of professions, the desire for external oversight and transparent accountability has grown. Professional limitations in the health sector are under pressure from the dynamic changes in the knowledge base, changes in the organization of health and social services, and an increasingly demanding litigious consumer-oriented society that we live in. Therefore most modern professions find it necessity to be dynamic and include continuing professional development. This requires a sturdy discipline base whereby research has an organic relationship with practice. It must be able to answer questions that arise in practice along with shape and redefine the evidence base for practice. Modern professions are increasingly becoming required to speak with a unified voice and to show meticulous oversight of their discipline. It is therefore vital that a coherent and rigorous accreditation process in the nutrition field is maintained, with the overall aim to: promote safe, sound and effective practice in Nutrition for the benefit and protection of the public and industry as a whole (NSA Voluntary Register of Nutritionists, 2007).

The growth of public interest in the connection between dietary intake and health has become very evident from the large number of articles, books, television and radio programs that now deal with nutrition related topics. Nutrition practitioners often work in areas that are outside the health sector, such as in the media, in the food industry, in sport...

Because there is no regulation or control over practitioners calling themselves nutritionists, a multitude of untrained or minimally trained individuals often represent themselves as nutritionists. This situation opens the possibility for misinformation to the public and others. As a result there is a clear need for a registration program that addresses the problem. While nutrition knowledge and skills are a prerequisite for all nutritionists, most nutrition practitioners also require additional training and skills related to their specific area of practice. In the same way that the dietetic profession recognizes a basic training in nutrition with further training in clinical nutrition skills as the basis for accreditation as a dietitian, there is now a need for other specialties in nutrition to define their basic requirements for professional recognition (NSA Voluntary Register of Nutritionists, 2007).
The UK has a very clearly defined set of guidelines that make up their public nutrition health agenda. Because of this it is very important the public health nutritionists work to carry out this agenda to the best of their ability. Having public health nutritionists accredited as a regulated and professional body would only help to promote this agenda. Because almost anyone can call themselves a nutritionist there is a growing problem with misinformation being disseminated which is hurting the cause of promoting the public health agenda. Regulating this body of professionals would help to alleviate this by holding this group accountable for the information that is being given out.