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:
Is your risk assessment complete?
E.coli, Listeria, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Vibrio, etc. The long list of bacterial pathogens have become common to those managing & developing food safety plans. However, when sitting down for your review of hazards in your HACCP & HARPC plans, it can be easy to forget that bacteria aren’t the only microbes associated with food. In fact, a large share of foodborne illness are caused by viral threats.
The research and development team of Eurofins Microbiology Laboratories, Inc. set out to better
understand STEC growth on lettuce by designing an experiment to observe the limits of detection by
real-time PCR using bacteria that were cold-stressed against those grown under non-stressed conditions. This white paper explains further.
Ensure food safety of fresh produce to avoid a Cyclospora outbreak. Learn more about Cyclospora in commercial produce and how to detect and mitigate risk of contamination.
Learn how mushrooms can become contaminated with bacteria and what you can do to protect your consumers. Eurofins provides comprehensive food testing services.
Fresh produce undergoes several steps to reduce risk of pathogen contamination, but did you know that Nanobubble technology could be one of them? Nanobubbles are very small (70-120 nanometers) gas bubbles that exhibit interesting physical properties due to its size. It has been a relatively new field of research that could provide significant improvements to food production and water treatment.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) implemented the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS) in 2022. This regulation mandates clear labeling for retail food products containing bioengineered (BE) or 'GMO' ingredients, giving consumers more insight into what they are eating. In this guide, we will explore what qualifies as a bioengineered food, which products are subject to labeling, and how businesses can comply with the regulations outlined in NBFDS.
New Rapid Pathogen Testing Services. Eurofins Microbiology Laboratories, Inc. is pleased to share our new Enteric Pathogen Risk Indicator (EPRI™) Testing. This new service is a rapid approach to risk identification and management using fast genetic technology (PCR) with the benefits of an indicator test. In addition, we can screen for Salmonella and Shiga toxigenic E. coli at the same time in one assay.
When we send a sample of food for testing, we generally think about a pretty simple system where we submit a sample, wait a bit of time, and then find out if the target organism is there. What we often forget is just how complex our food, processing systems, and environments truly are.
Are you stuck on the proverbial micro testing loop? Do you submit a sample to the lab, get a non-compliant result, fill out some paperwork, visit a field and then just start right back over at step one? If so watch this webinar on how to fix those issues.
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?
