The Health Professions Council (HPC) — now the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) — is the UK regulator that sets standards for training and conduct across a range of health professions, including dietitians, and maintains the register of those legally entitled to practise under protected titles. Only HCPC-registered dietitians may call themselves dietitians; the register guarantees a qualifying degree, supervised practice, and continuing professional development, with fitness-to-practise powers to strike off the unsafe. For the public, the protected title is the crucial distinction between a regulated dietitian and the unregulated “nutritionist,” a term anyone may use. The council’s existence underpins trust in dietetic advice.