Description
Plan and conduct food service or nutritional programs to assist in the promotion of health and control of disease. May supervise activities of a department providing quantity food services, counsel individuals, or conduct nutritional research.
- • Assess nutritional needs, diet restrictions, and current health plans to develop and implement dietary-care plans and provide nutritional counseling.
- • Consult with physicians and health care personnel to determine nutritional needs and diet restrictions of patient or client.
- • Advise patients and their families on nutritional principles, dietary plans, diet modifications, and food selection and preparation.
- • Counsel individuals and groups on basic rules of good nutrition, healthy eating habits, and nutrition monitoring to improve their quality of life.
- • Monitor food service operations to ensure conformance to nutritional, safety, sanitation and quality standards.
- • Coordinate recipe development and standardization and develop new menus for independent food service operations.
- • Develop policies for food service or nutritional programs to assist in health promotion and disease control.
- • Inspect meals served for conformance to prescribed diets and standards of palatability and appearance.
- • Develop curriculum and prepare manuals, visual aids, course outlines, and other materials used in teaching.
- • Prepare and administer budgets for food, equipment, and supplies.
- • Purchase food in accordance with health and safety codes.
- • Select, train, and supervise workers who plan, prepare, and serve meals.
- • Manage quantity food service departments or clinical and community nutrition services.
- • Coordinate diet counseling services.
- • Advise food service managers and organizations on sanitation, safety procedures, menu development, budgeting, and planning to assist with establishment, operation, and evaluation of food service facilities and nutrition programs.
- • Organize, develop, analyze, test, and prepare special meals, such as low-fat, low-cholesterol, or chemical-free meals.
- • Plan, conduct, and evaluate dietary, nutritional, and epidemiological research.
- • Plan and conduct training programs in dietetics, nutrition, and institutional management and administration for medical students, health-care personnel, and the general public.
- • Make recommendations regarding public policy, such as nutrition labeling, food fortification, or nutrition standards for school programs.
- • Write research reports and other publications to document and communicate research findings.
- • Plan and prepare grant proposals to request program funding.
- • Test new food products and equipment.
- • Confer with design, building, and equipment personnel to plan for construction and remodeling of food service units.
- • Evaluate laboratory tests in preparing nutrition recommendations.
- • Incorporate patient cultural, ethnic, or religious preferences and needs in the development of nutrition plans.
- • Record and evaluate patient and family health and food history, including symptoms, environmental toxic exposure, allergies, medication factors, and preventive health-care measures.
- • Develop recipes and menus to address special nutrition needs, such as low glycemic, low histamine, or gluten- or allergen-free.
- • Plan, conduct, and evaluate nutrigenomic or nutrigenetic research.
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Healthcare & Human Services
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Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
