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Douglas L. Marshall

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Douglas L. Marshall, PhD, CFS

Douglas L. Marshall, PhD, CFS

Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Marshall is Chief Scientific Officer with Eurofins Microbiology Laboratories, Inc., a division of the global life sciences company Eurofins Scientific.  He also is co-founder and Director of the Food Safety Institute, LLC, an integrated consulting and analytical services company affiliated with the Eurofins network of companies.  His former positions include the following:

  • Associate Dean and Professor of Public Health, College of Natural and Health Sciences, University of Northern Colorado
  • Adjunct Professor with the Colorado School of Public Health
  • Professor of Food Science, Nutrition, and Health Promotion at Mississippi State University
  • Assistant Professor of Food Science at Louisiana State University
  • Contributing Editor for the peer-reviewed scientific journal Food Microbiology
  • Four consecutive terms on the editorial board of the Journal of Food Protection

He is a frequent volunteer and consultant to trade associations, NIH, WHO, FAO, USDA, and other government agencies and private companies.  His research and expertise has been featured in popular press venues such as Consumer’s Reports, Fine Cooking, USA Today, Fitness, Health, Men’s Health, Chemtech, Nature Science Updates, and ASM Journal Highlights.  He is a frequently invited speaker and a prolific book chapter writer. With over 250 publications and over 180 invited presentations, his scientific research and outreach interests focus on improving the microbiological quality and safety of foods.  Among these was the completion of the 4 volume Handbook of Food Science, Technology, and Engineering, which he Co-Edited.  He has been the recipient of a number of awards for his scholarly efforts including the Mississippi Chemical Corporation Award of Excellence for Outstanding Work, the International Association for Food Protection Educator and Harold Barnum Industry Awards.  He is a Fellow and former member of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Food Technologists, former Chair of the International Food Science Certification Commission, and former member of the Board of Directors of the American Spice Trade Association.  On a personal note, early in his career he served as a deck hand on an Alaskan fishing vessel (well before Deadliest Catch) and prefers to spend his free time lost on a trail in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

Below are resources from Douglas:



Spices are known to have antimicrobial and PCR inhibitory components. This research validates the performance of the BACGene Salmonella spp. realtime PCR assay for detection of Salmonella in seven spice matrices and an additional nine spices via matrix verification.


This poster discusses research with the purpose to evaluate the performance of a commercial real-time PCR Salmonella detection method with spice matrices having antimicrobial and PCR inhibitory properties and to determine if any method modifications are required to obtain acceptable results.


In this webinar Dr. Demarco, Associate Scientific Director of Eurofins Microbiology, discusses problems from the perspective of the spice manufacturer, rapid and conventional cultural methods most commonly used when testing for pathogens in spices, issues with testing methods and most commonly used approaches to circumvent them, as well as opportunities for improvements.  Original airdate April 27, 2023.


This infographic answers questions surrounding becoming certified organic in the spice industry.



https://www.eurofinsus.com/food-testing