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:
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.
This informative blog post covers the basics of probiotic testing for new brands. Learn about federal regulations, formulation, and testing options, including plate counts and flow cytometry, surrounding the efficacy and safety of probiotic supplements. This article contains valuable information for anyone involved in probiotic manufacturing, formulation, or branding!
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.
In this webinar Dr. Demarco, Associate Scientific Director of Eurofins Microbiology, discusses problems from the perspective of the spice manufacturer, rapid and conventional cultural methods most commonly used when testing for pathogens in spices, issues with testing methods and most commonly used approaches to circumvent them, as well as opportunities for improvements. Original airdate April 27, 2023.
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
Chemical and microbial exposure are the most common types of contamination during food processing. Understanding the sources of each type of contamination helps to effectively prevent problems before they arise. This infographic below explains various contamination sources in food, feed, and botanical products. These include residual solvents, storage issues, improper handling, and more.
Alicyclobacillus is a non-pathogenic spoilage bacteria that silently sours fruit juice products. With the ability to survive commercial pasteurization, Alicyclobacillus causes unpleasant odors in food products that make the products undesirable to consumers. Is your product at risk?
