JavaScript is disabled. Please enable to continue!

Mobile search icon
More Resources >> Our People >> Douglas L. Marshall

Douglas L. Marshall

Sidebar Image
Douglas L. Marshall, PhD, CFS

Douglas L. Marshall, PhD, CFS

Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Marshall is Chief Scientific Officer with Eurofins Microbiology Laboratories, Inc., a division of the global life sciences company Eurofins Scientific.  He is co-founder and Director of the Food Safety Institute, LLC, an integrated consulting and analytical services company affiliated with the Eurofins network of companies.  He is Technical Director for the Refrigerated Foods Association and Microbiology Task Force Chair for the American Spice Trade Association.  His former positions include the following:

  • Associate Dean and Professor of Public Health, College of Natural and Health Sciences, University of Northern Colorado
  • Adjunct Professor with the Colorado School of Public Health and Colorado State University
  • Professor of Food Science, Nutrition, and Health Promotion at Mississippi State University
  • Assistant Professor of Food Science at Louisiana State University
  • Contributing Editor for the peer-reviewed scientific journal Food Microbiology
  • Four consecutive terms on the editorial board of the Journal of Food Protection

He is a frequent volunteer and consultant to trade associations, NIH, WHO, FAO, USDA, and other government agencies and private companies.  His research and expertise has been featured in popular press venues such as Consumer’s Reports, Fine Cooking, USA Today, Fitness, Health, Men’s Health, Chemtech, Nature Science Updates, and ASM Journal Highlights.  He is a frequently invited speaker and a prolific book chapter writer. With over 250 publications, over 300 invited presentations, and over 100 workshops delivered, his scientific research and outreach interests focus on improving the microbiological quality and safety of foods, with emphasis on meat, poultry, seafoods, and produce.  Among these was the completion of the 4 volume Handbook of Food Science, Technology, and Engineering, which he Co-Edited.  He has been the recipient of a number of awards for his scholarly efforts including the Mississippi Chemical Corporation Award of Excellence for Outstanding Work, the International Association for Food Protection Educator and Harold Barnum Industry Awards.  He is a Fellow and former member of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Food Technologists, inaugural Chair of the International Food Science Certification Commission, and former member of the Board of Directors of the American Spice Trade Association. 

On a personal note, early in his career he served as a deck hand on an Alaskan fishing vessel (well before Deadliest Catch) and prefers to spend his free time lost on a trail in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

Below are resources from Douglas:



Pathogenic organisms, like Salmonella and E. coli, can grow in low water activity foods, leading to foodborne illness outbreaks. Thermal processes inhibit microbial growth and ensure only safe ingredients and products reach the shelves. Thermal processes must be validated to make sure they fully prevent pathogen growth. This blog outlines what foods may need an LWAF thermal process, what a validation study looks like, and the results the experts at Eurofins provide.


This webinar outlines the concept, design and execution of appropriate validation strategies and procedures intended to mitigate microbiological hazards in Low-Water Activity Foods. In the context of FDA regulations, low-water activity foods (LWAF) are those products with a water activity (aw) of less than 0.85. For many decades, these products were believed to present a low microbiological hazard risk. Various food related illness outbreaks, starting with a massive outbreak of salmonellosis due to peanut butter consumption in 2008-2009, raised awareness of the risk resulting from extended survival of pathogens in these products even in the absence of active growth. Original airdate August 23, 2022.


High-Pressure Processing is a food processing technology that enables food safety while maintaining food quality. Learn how this high-pressure technology contributes to food science and testing to help support HPP processing and HPP food safety.


Validation of aseptic fillers intended for the production of low-acid, shelf-stable products is a core requirement of the FDA’s low-acid canned food (LACF) regulations (21CFR113 and 108.35). Microbiological challenges of the aseptic zone and packaging material sterilization cycles are important components of the validation process. These challenges are often conducted at the production site using non-pathogenic surrogate organisms that mimic the resistance of the pertinent target pathogen. This presentation will provide a brief history of the use of such surrogates for the validation of low-acid aseptic fillers along with the approach we have used to qualify the surrogates as adequate for the intended technology.”


<< < 1 2 > >>

https://www.eurofinsus.com/food-testing