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:
In this presentation, USP and Eurofins Microbiology provided an overview of USP microbiology methods tests for microbial contamination in dietary supplements, CBD/hemp products, and probiotics. The session included an in-depth discussion regarding the importance of suitability testing, and a comparison of USP methodology to AOAC/FDA BAM methodology. USP also provided an update on new USP chapters and shared insight on what is on the horizon for USP methods.
In this document, you will see the list of chemicals on the Proposition 65 list and learn how Eurofins is prepared to help you develop your products, qualify your supply chain, and conduct ongoing quality control to minimize the risk of incomplete labeling.
This document describes the nutrition and supplement facts labels changes.
In this blog post Andrew Ward discusses using a 3rd party inspection partner to ensure that quality of the products that a buyer is purchasing. Do you have a 3rd party inspection partner?
This presentation is focused on potential hemp regulations and their related dietary supplement regulations. Some topics during this discussion include section 321(ff)(3)(B) of the FD&C Act and its impact on hemp ingredients, new dietary ingredient requirements and preparation to meet federal regulations for dietary supplements, including dietary supplement Good Manufacturing Practices, should FDA or Congress recognize hemp extracts as lawful dietary ingredients.
To address the industrial needs for rapid and economic analysis of steviol glycoside products we developed and validated a method. This method has the potential to be adapted as an industrial standard for the rapid and economic analysis for testing steviol glycosides.
Food fraud has been a topic that continues to be of high interest. Below are the top risks that should be considered when developing your food fraud plan.
This online presentation announces the establishment of a groundbreaking partnership. Backed by a grant from the US Department of Commerce, the United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA) and National Animal Supplement Council (NASC) have partnered with the China Society for Inspection and Testing (CSIT) and Eurofins to establish a qualification program focused on high-quality botanical and nutritional ingredients from China, and to provide new direct access to the Chinese consumer market for US dietary supplements for humans and pets.
A major manufacturer of vitamins and nutritional supplements was preparing to release a hair, skin and nails product. They tested the product’s Vitamin D levels both internally and with Eurofins.
During this webinar, Tim Lombardo of Eurofins Food Assurance discussed the differences between food security, food safety, food fraud, and food defense. He provided a short history of FSMA and reviewed regulations for food defense and intentional adulteration protection.
