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:
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.
Managing food safety & quality in fruit & vegetable processing is challenging and extremely dynamic; variable supply chains, seasonal quality issues, minimal pathogen mitigations, and short shelf-life often leaves little time to make critical decisions.
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.
Implementing an Effective Listeria Control Plan for Fresh Produce
This webinar will provide insights on how a manufacturer validates Bioengineered removal processes and verify compliance with the rule. Original airdate September 15, 2022.
The USDA establishes a new standard for disclosing bioengineered food. Does the mandate apply to you? Read to learn more.
Historically, the fresh produce industry has viewed food quality and food safety as different disciplines and utilizing separate science. That is changing. The lines between food safety and quality are becoming blurred.
For processors, retailers, growers and suppliers, the need to understand the intersection of food quality and safety has never been more critical. The strategic partnership between the Qfresh Lab and Eurofins was created specifically to address this need within the industry.
This webinar explores how to navigate through the combination of foods safety and quality.
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.
