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:
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.
Mushroom toxicity comes from many sources, including the soil, processing, and the mushrooms themselves. This infographic outlines sources of contamination, as well as steps to take to minimize the risk of toxins entering the food chain.
This case study details how Eurofins The National Food Lab was able to assist a start-up company in developing a shelf-stable Ready to Drink product with a high active concentration.
This case study details how Eurofins The National Food Lab was able to assist an ingredient supplier in understanding their new product's key performance differentiators to demonstrate their value proposition to potential clients.
This case study details how Eurofins The National Food Lab was able to assist a Consumer Packaged Goods company in evaluating the options for plant protein alternatives as a new ingredient option.
Are you incorporating novel or upcycled protein materials in your products? This handout describes a key issue surrounding traditional determination, calculation, and labeling of two compulsory nutrients (protein & carbohydrates) in the US Nutrition Facts Panel.
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.
Are you incorporating novel or upcycled protein materials in your products? If so join Mollie Van Alst for this webinar to learn more about the determination of protein and carbohydrates from that material. Original airdate March 30, 2023
Eurofins Craft Technologies recently became a gold member of the Algae Biomass Organization (ABO). Our team is excited to offer discounts and special rates to other ABO members. We answered some common questions about the ABO, membership benefits, and testing with Eurofins in this article.
