Nutrition bodies BANT and the NTC are setting up an expert panel to make a “frank appraisal” of recent media allegations about the conduct and competency of nutritional therapists.
In January, the consumer group Which? published a report accusing nutritional therapists of providing advice that “could seriously harm patients health”.
The report accused therapists of “relying on non-evidence-based testing to diagnose symptoms” after it sent investigators posing as patients to 15 practitioners.
Which? claimed that by making diagnoses the therapists would have been in breach of the code of practice operated by BANT.
In a joint statement this week BANT and NTC say that they have “taken the recent allegations reported in the media very seriously” and would be using the expert panel to make recommendations on how to move forward.
The statement continues: “The posts for the working party have yet to be confirmed but a number of experienced nutritional therapy practitioners and academics have been approached. The first meeting will take place shortly and we will report on their findings and recommendations in due course.”
