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:
What should you do when you get a positive result on a presumptive pathogen test? Anne Chi from our Southern California Eurofins Microbiology lab explains some next steps in this short video. Eurofins publishes our Ask an Expert Series weekly on our social media platforms.
Did you know the type of swab or sponge in your environmental monitoring program (EMP) is important in regards to the methods used for detection of pathogens? Camila Gadotti discusses this topic in this short video. Eurofins publishes our Ask an Expert Series weekly on our social media platforms.
There are many different types of PCR-based pathogen detection platforms in the industry. At Eurofins, we are often asked, how does our Eurofins BACGene compare to the most common alternative, Hygiena BAX? Michael Kaiser from our Eurofins Microbiology lab in Madison, WI discusses this topic in the short video. Eurofins publishes our Ask an Expert Series weekly on our social media platforms.
Formulating a new product can be exciting! But sometimes we are not sure of the effect this can have on growth of spoilage organisms during shelf life or risk of pathogenic bacteria. Martha Kimber from our Advance Microbiology Lab in Fresno, CA discusses this topic in this short video. Eurofins publishes our Ask an Expert Series weekly on our social media platforms.
Are ATP swabs adequate enough for monitoring environmental contamination in your facility? Our Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Doug Marshall explains industry best practices and what might be the best approach. Eurofins publishes our Ask an Expert Series weekly on our social media platforms.
Should you be testing for Listeria species or Listeria monocytogenes? It is difficult question but one that Karissa Roadhouse from our Eurofins Microbiology lab in Louisville, KY helps us understand better in this short video. Eurofins publishes our Ask an Expert Series weekly on our social media platforms.
You walk the field, you pick some product, and you drop it off at the lab for testing. Not long after, you hear back your sample is presumptive. Now what?
With so many food pathogen detection methods available deciding which is most suitable to your process, product and facility can be difficult. Read more as Eurofins dissects the pros and cons of immunoassay and molecular methodology.
This blog discusses the importance of testing aspergillus in hemp and cbd products.
This poster—originally presented at IFT’s annual 2019 meeting—seeks to determine the robustness of LAMP pathogen assays by testing wide variations in temperature, incubation time, and other conditions, to facilitate efficient laboratory operation in “real world” conditions.
