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:
This Environmental Monitoring Guide focuses on why to have an environmental monitoring program (EMP), where and how to perform environmental monitoring with the Zone concept, evaluation of results and root cause analysis when out-of-spec environmental test results are found, and corrective actions to take based on root cause analysis.
Do you need microbial testing for your food products? Learn the importance of microbial challenge testing to ensure food safety and quality.
This poster discusses research focused on the co-enrichment detection of Salmonella and STEC on produce matrices.
This poster discusses research with the purpose of demonstrating a proof of concept for a reliable methodology evaluating postbiotic materials as characterized by inanimate cells by flow cytometry.
This poster discusses research with the purpose to demonstrate proof of concept of the EPRI tool with real-world samples by comparing against a validated pathogen method and culture.
This poster discusses research with the purpose to evaluate the performance of a commercial real-time PCR Salmonella detection method with spice matrices having antimicrobial and PCR inhibitory properties and to determine if any method modifications are required to obtain acceptable results.
This white paper will provide a brief overview of both prevention and investigation of spoilage. By focusing on principles, it will not be able to answer every question, but rather will illustrate questions to ask during product design and failure investigations.
Mushroom toxicity comes from many sources, including the soil, processing, and the mushrooms themselves. This infographic outlines sources of contamination, as well as steps to take to minimize the risk of toxins entering the food chain.
This webinar presentation covers a background review of how we have come to report results as “presumptive”, the current state of rapid and confirmation testing, and possible future direction. Original airdate December 7, 2023.
In this on-demand webinar, Eurofins Microbiology Laboratories has partnered with Rheonix to explore the challenges centering around recurring Listeria in an environment, and to offer real answers to your nagging Listeria questions and limited industry resources. Original airdate November 14, 2023.
