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Douglas L. Marshall

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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:



Ensure compliance and product safety with Eurofins' USP Microbiology Services. Learn how USP Testing and Suitability Testing help validate methods for dietary supplements, probiotics, and botanicals while avoiding false negatives and regulatory pitfalls.


Eurofins Microbiology Laboratory (EML) New England adds Alicyclobacillus spp. testing to its ISO 17025:2017 scope of biological services. This is an expansion to their existing scope that includes routine pathogen and indicator organism testing for food, food products, beverages, environmental samples, and pet food. 


Learn how data-driven E. coli testing improves process control and food safety in beef plants. Explore sampling strategies, harvest monitoring, and microbial analytics to reduce contamination risks and enhance regulatory compliance.


Low water activity foods (LWAFs) have historically been considered low-risk for microbiological hazards because their limited “free” (unbound) water in the formulation prevents bacterial growth. However, foodborne illness outbreaks revealed that pathogens can survive for extended periods in LWAFs, even in the absence of growth. Watch now to learn what is required to validate control measures to reduce microbial risks in LWAFs. Originally Aired on June 18, 2025.


The Eurofins team of process authorities routinely provides expert guidance to food manufacturers to prepare microbiologically safe products. In this service, we encounter many questions that span across a variety of food products and manufacturing processes. Here we list and will continue to compile the most common questions and answers asked of a process authority and the responses. Use this information as a guide in your scheduled process or as you work through the formulation and development of your new food product. You may also use this as a tool to submit your own questions for a process authority!


When it comes to food safety and regulatory compliance, acidified foods stand out as a unique category that demands careful attention. These shelf-stable products, ranging from pickled vegetables to tangy condiments, rely on precise pH control and proper processing to ensure they remain safe and stable for consumers. In this webinar, we’ll simplify the complexities of acid and acidified foods, breaking down key factors regarding microbiological safety, stability, and regulatory compliance. 


Join experts from two leading Eurofins labs in this in-depth webinar as they break down the latest preservative testing methodologies, covering both natural and synthetic preservatives.


Food safety risks in fruit and vegetable processing environments can come from many different sources. Agricultural items are inherently dirty products, which can introduce risk- including microbial pathogens- to a facility from the outside environment. If your Environmental Monitoring Program (EMP) and sanitation programs are not sufficient to control these risks, these products could be potentially cross contaminating other products that are subsequently processed in the facility. It is therefore imperative that we think about risks from both our incoming products and our processes when designing environmental monitoring programs.


Non-culturable presumptive (NCP)- samples that yield positive pathogen detection results by PCR screening methods but do not confirm by cultural methods- can be frustrating and disruptive to clients. These situations are not unique to a testing company or the methods that are run, but it is possible to understand the root causes of NCPs, and to identify additional procedures to reduce the frequency with which they occur and minimize the likelihood of these situations impacting your data.


When you submit a sample to the laboratory for microbiology testing, what happens? Follow a Listeria spp. sample through the lab workflow in this infographic.


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