Dr. Caitlin Boon serves as senior director for health and nutrition policy at Mars, Incorporated. A global, family-owned business driven by the belief that the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today, Mars, Incorporated produces some of the world’s best-loved brands, including ROYAL CANIN®, PEDIGREE®, WHISKAS®, CESAR®, M&M’S®, SNICKERS®, Pringles®, Cheez-It® and BEN’S ORIGINAL™. Based at the company’s global headquarters in Virginia, Boon leads policy engagement on health, food safety and nutrition issues across the portfolio and helps guide Mars, Incorporated’s policy leadership in Washington, D.C. and across the U.S.
Before joining Mars Incorporated, Boon served in various roles at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Most recently, she served as associate commissioner for Food Policy and Response, providing leadership on a variety of food safety activities, including implementation of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, outbreak response and recall activities and efforts to evaluate and adopt new and emerging technologies to advance FDA’s mission. Previously, Boon served as senior science advisor to the chief of staff, serving as a principal advisor to the commissioner on a variety of high-priority food safety, nutrition and animal health policies. Boon also served as an FDA detailee to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
Before joining FDA, Boon served as a study director for food and nutrition projects at the National Academies and directed the Food Forum. Boon received undergraduate degrees in food science and poultry science from North Carolina State University, completed a master’s degree in food policy at City University London while on a Fulbright grant to the United Kingdom and received a doctorate in food science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She credits much of her success to growing up in the North Carolina 4-H program.
Boon lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and two young sons.