Vanessa Noelte, a MPH candidate at the Yale School of Public Health, interned with the Center for Food Nutrition and Applied Science (CFSAN) in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this summer to work with its Nutrition Labeling Team.
Her project was to research the gluten-free labeling rule and produce a paper that includes background on past policy decisions and processes that had taken place to pass the rule, a scientific literature survey, assessing methods used for gluten testing and how the MIoBS and R5 RIDASCREEN ELISAs were relevant in this study, as well as data analysis of gluten levels detected in samples. The project pulled together her background in science and epidemiology as well as health policy studies and is the first paper drafted for publication indicating food industry’s compliance with FDA’s final rulings.
In addition to her work on the gluten-free paper, Vanessa attended presentations on menu labeling and genomic sequencing to further her understanding of the obstacles the FDA faces as well as the numerous factors at play in any decision the center makes (politics, policy, economics, science, industry, government).