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:
Developing a product requires careful consideration of storage, transport, and retail conditions. Spoilage organism testing helps determine the risk of bacterial spoilage under different conditions. Additionally, spoilage testing can be added to routine microbiology testing to ensure continued product quality and safety.
Indicator organisms are groups of microbes that are correlated with other groups. In other words, the presence of one indicates the presence of another. So, indicator testing detects a small group of pathogens instead of running over 30 tests to look for all potential harmful groups. This reduces testing times and costs.
Which food labeling rule applies to your food product? Learn more about USDA and FDA Food Labeling guidelines, coverage, and differences.
PFAS have valuable uses and extreme chemical stability, but can lead to adverse health outcomes. Learn why PFAS testing in foods is now becoming an essential need for your food and supplement products in the market.
Validated methods are essential to reliable botanical testing. Method validation and development ensures analytical approaches are applicable to specific ingredients and provide accurate results. The process of method development and validation are outlined.
Botanical reference materials play a critical role in herbal product testing. Learn about the importance of botanical reference materials, and how choosing a lab with a large reference material library impacts analytical outputs.
In 2016, the FDA updated the Daily Value (DV) and Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for several nutrients, including Vitamin E. The RDIs are published by the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and based on the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) of α-Tocopherol, as it is the only form of Vitamin E maintained in the blood and has biological activity. Thus, Vitamin E per NLEA regulations (or mg label claim) is defined as milligrams α-Tocopherol. Review this fact sheet for more information about reporting Vitamin E per the regulations.
Manufacturing microwave food or Ready-to-Heat (RTH) products have compelling benefits and challenges. Learn more about the chemistry of how microwave technology works, applications in the food industry, and how testing is an important piece when manufacturing or selling these products.
What is food chemistry and how it is important in the food industry? Learn more about the basics of this food science discipline and the main components that are studied and testing for food ingredient an product quality and safety.
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.
