Mary Christ-Erwin leads Porter Novelli’s Food, Beverage & Nutrition discipline. Mary’s experience in issues and product and organizational positioning has been integral to clients ranging from The Walt Disney Corporation to SOYJOY to Bel Brands.
Currently, she provides ongoing counsel to clients including the Almond Board of California, McDonald’s and Nature Made, among others. These programs, designed to communicate leadership and demonstrate issue preparedness, require significant insight into current and emerging consumer, business and policy trends.
Translation of science into influencer and consumer communications is a hallmark of Mary’s work. Currently, she is deeply involved in developing strategies designed to address the issues related to obesity, including positioning the tenets of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans into tools for daily living and providing clarity around issues such as nutrient adequacy, food safety and satiety.
A frequent speaker on development and communication of food-related messages, Mary is an advisor to the annual Consumer Federation of America Food Policy Conference. Mary’s involvement in the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) is critical to her role as a food communicator. She is a member of the Nutrition and Public Policy Committees, as well as the Joint Task Force of the IFT, American Society for Nutrition (ASN) and International Food Information Council (IFIC) that was created to facilitate collaboration among food and nutrition sciences to enable collaborative solutions that impact public health. She also is assisting the IFT with five-year strategic planning. In 2009, the American Dietetic Association granted Mary the highest honor for non-members – honorary membership in the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics – in recognition of her contribution to the advancement of the profession. She was named to the Board of the Academy Foundation in 2012