J. David Legan, PhD
Director of Science
David earned his Ph.D. in Food Technology from the University of Reading in the UK by modeling the ecology of mixed microbial populations, and then moved to Campden BRI in a variety of microbiological food safety research and client service roles. During that time, he was project lead for the Bacillus component of the UK’s pathogen modeling program. He moved again to Nabisco Research in New Jersey where he ran the corporate microbiology lab and developed a program of preservation technology development and microbial modeling. After the Kraft Foods acquisition, he moved to Chicago to work on Food Safety and Preservation research, and through modeling and validation studies:
- Optimized Oscar Mayer’s use of lactate and diacetate and their naturally cultured alternatives as Listeria-control agents in Ready to Eat meats
- Specified process conditions central to Oscar Mayer’s commercial launch of High Pressure Pasteurization of naturally cured RTE meats
David had responsibility for the Kraft cultures R&D group, developed a partnership to explore microwave sterilization leading to several patents, and led a program that developed an internal proprietary natural antimicrobial commercialized in several Kraft products. Technologies from his group supported approximately $4 billion in annual sales.
After years as a microbiology "client", he is now back in the "provider" role as Director of Science at Eurofins Microbiology Laboratories, Inc., by way of the Covance Food Solutions group based in Madison, WI, which he joined in 2016. In this role, he ensures appropriate method validation, explores new testing technologies, and fields multiple complicated food microbiology questions.
Products that his team has evaluated or developed and launched include:
- The 3M MDS platform in the Madison microbiology laboratory
- Flow cytometry for enumeration of probiotics
- Strain-level confirmation of probiotic identification using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
- Next-generation sequencing using the Oxford Nanopore Technologies GridION sequencing platform for microbial identification and microbiome analysis
Below are resources from David:
Off-flavor and off-odor issues can damage your brand reputation and even result in recall. Watch our webinar to learn how Eurofins uses gas chromatography with mass spectral detection (GC-MS) to provide solutions for off-flavors, off-odors, and flavor scalping caused by improper product packaging, or production or transportation issues. This webinar was originally recorded on October 01, 2020.
In this case study learn more about how the unique Eurofins ExpressMicro service molded to meet the needs and became the preferred solution, saving both time and money for a leading food producer.
Our webinar hosted by Dr. Neal Craft, Chief Scientific Officer of Eurofins, explores the world of natural pigments, testing methods, and unique matrix challenges.
At Eurofins, ExpressMicro samples arrive at the lab in the early morning hours, six to eleven hours earlier than other labs—and we deliver results up to eight hours faster than standard next-day air shipping.
During this webinar, Tim Lombardo of Eurofins Food Assurance discussed the differences between food security, food safety, food fraud, and food defense. He provided a short history of FSMA and reviewed regulations for food defense and intentional adulteration protection.
In response to the rapidly developing, low-calorie sweetener market, Eurofins developed and validated a new HPLC analytical method for allulose determination. Learn more from Eurofins Botanicals, Director of R&D, Dr. Hong You.
Eurofins participated in this year's annual member meeting of the AOOPA, jointly hosted by the Olive Oil Council of California (OOCC). This was the first meeting with the California group. And they are taking the lead in grading and labeling certification standards for olive oils.
Fatty acids are carboxylic acids which are typically found in lipids (fats and oils) in plant and animal tissue. These acids are generally named according to the number of carbon atoms in the chain, and the number of double bonds in the chain, for example,C18:1, octadecaenoic acid contains 18 carbon atoms with a single double bond in the chain.
This poster describes the method development of Retinyl Acetate and Retinyl Palmitate by Supercritical Fluid Extraction and Chromatography.
This poster describes the method development of the AOAC First Action 2018.16 Method: Sugar Profile by High-Performance Anion Exchange Chromatography.
