Muskaan Kaur Makkar

Muskaan Makkar is an master’s in public health student concentrating in nutrition and dietetics at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, with plans to become a dietitian. She became involved in food policy research as an undergraduate student at the University of South Carolina, beginning with global food marketing research under Dr. Christine Blake before transitioning to front-of-package labeling. During a study abroad semester in Switzerland, she conducted a global comparative project on different front-of-package labeling systems. With the guidance of Dr. Jim Thrasher, she completed her undergraduate honors thesis at USC and published a manuscript exploring the impact of Mexico’s front-of-package warning labels on sugar-sweetened beverage purchases and consumption among Mexican Americans in the United States, with a focus on impact by health literacy level. Muskaan completed a Fulbright Advanced Student Research Grant (2025-26) at Université Sorbonne Paris Nord where she led international projects testing the validity of the Nutri-Score labeling system, under the mentorship of Dr. Chantal Julia. She joined GFRP in Fall 2026, working under Dr. Lindsey Taillie. Her primary research and professional interests are understanding how food policies work across different global contexts in order to identify and implement evidence-based policies that best improve the U.S. food environment.

My “go-to” comfort food is… my mom’s cooking, especially her chilli paneer and mixed vegetables.

The craziest thing I’ve ever eaten is… escargot, and it kind of just tasted like mushrooms and garlic!

My favorite food-related smell is… the smell of white onions and garlic, cooking in olive oil. Also a close second: coffee!

My most interesting food habit is… I used to love eating peanut butter and pickle sandwiches as a kid. It’s a habit I have mostly given up because of my family’s incredulous looks whenever I make them, but don’t knock it till you try it!