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 Microbiology Laboratories in Salinas has met this industry demand for quality, and as a result has expanded the Eurofins presence within the produce market.
This poster discusses research focused on the co-enrichment detection of Salmonella and STEC on produce matrices.
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.
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.
Watch this on-demand webinar to learn about the significant organic food industry growth. The webinar provides an overview of the impact of SOE on certified entities, and a discussion on how to build risk management systems to meet regulatory and consumer expectations for your products' organic integrity. Original airdate April 19, 2023.
Is your risk assessment complete?
E.coli, Listeria, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Vibrio, etc. The long list of bacterial pathogens have become common to those managing & developing food safety plans. However, when sitting down for your review of hazards in your HACCP & HARPC plans, it can be easy to forget that bacteria aren’t the only microbes associated with food. In fact, a large share of foodborne illness are caused by viral threats.
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.
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.
