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:
Eurofins’ laboratories are frequently asked questions about microbial indicator testing. This whitepaper will attempt to answer the most common questions and give an overview of the uses and benefits of testing for microbial indicators.
An outline of a few of the key qualities and considerations of the BACGene real-time PCR pathogen detection system, and how they translate to information you can use to be knowledgeable on your current and future pathogen testing decisions.
Eurofins explores the considerations for Salmonella identification, techniques, and guidance.
Eurofins is proud to offer a new service as part of its dairy testing portfolio. The Eurofins team has developed and validated a method to detect recombinant Bovine Somatotropin (rBST) in liquid milk products.
The regulations and requirements surrounding bioengineered foods are confusing, especially when navigating federal regulations and the voluntary non-GMO Project verification. This FAQ answers common questions surrounding the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard, the non-GMO Project, and testing options at Eurofins.
Today, there is a widely shared belief that the rate of non confirming presumptives (NCP’s) “false positives” in food pathogen diagnostics has increased significantly in recent years. This increase has been most closely associated with PCR and real time PCR testing. It has not yet been possible to answer the question definitively, nevertheless, the belief is real, and the limited data that have been analyzed suggest that non confirming presumptive rates are indeed on the rise.
Testing food and ingredients is a proactive step you can take to analyze and verify the quality and safety of your products. There are many considerations you should know about using test kits and instruments in your manufacturing plant. This article provides advice and considerations when buying in-house test kits and instruments.
Eurofins Scientific was founded in 1987 with four employees to market a ground-breaking testing technology using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance to detect whether sugar had been added during the winemaking process to increase alcohol content. In the following years, the patented SNIF-NMR® technology was used to verify the origin and purity of several types of food and beverages and identify sophisticated fraud not detectable by other methods.
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?
Your CBD and hemp-derived multiple-use cosmetic and personal care products that contain preservatives need to be tested to assure the preservation, or antimicrobial action is adequate to fight the introduction of microorganisms.
