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:
Food fraud can result in serious public health consequences and damage to your brand's reputation. Learn about products at risk for food fraud and steps you can take to protect your company.
Products marketed for bodybuilding, energy enhancement, and weight loss are sometimes adulterated with anabolic agents, stimulants, or pharmaceuticals. The industry has found that more than 14% of these supplements are adulterated. Find out more why adulteration in sports nutrition is so prevalent and what can be done to help prevent adulteration in your products.
As popularity of dietary supplements continues to grow, recent challenges in supply chain have shown an emergent growth in adulteration. Find out more on what the problem with adulteration is, and how is it being addressed.
Validated methods are essential to reliable botanical testing. Method validation and development ensures analytical approaches are applicable to specific ingredients and provide accurate results. The process of method development and validation are outlined.
Botanical reference materials play a critical role in herbal product testing. Learn about the importance of botanical reference materials, and how choosing a lab with a large reference material library impacts analytical outputs.
Analytical method development and validation is a complex topic; in this webinar, Josh Rhein and Leo Schilling attempt to break it down for you and discuss some best practices.
In this informative webinar, Eurofins SF Analytical scientists explain the considerations your company should factor in to mitigate risk and comply with applicable regulations including new analytical techniques to meet the ever-changing compendia (USP, EP, ACS, FCC/NF, JECFA, etc.)
Learn more about the similarities and differences between the terms: fraud, defense, authenticity, and adulteration when it comes to foods, ingredients, and supplements.
New options for sweetening low-sugar foods have entered the market. Testing of sweetener ingredients and the finished product is key.
Dietary supplement using immune-based ingredients have significantly increased over the last few years. Learn more on which trendy ingredients are being used and how to comply with the FDA guidelines on dietary supplements and functional food products.
