Campuses:
 | Ph.D., Professor Department of Food Science and Nutrition 258 ABLMS Phone: (612) 624-9756 Fax: (612) 625-5272 fdiez@umn.edu Complete publication list |
Dr. Francisco Diez-Gonzalez is a Professor of Food Safety Microbiology in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota. His research program is focused on study and control of food-borne pathogens. His particular interests are: development of pre-harvest control strategies of Escherichia coli O157:H7, mechanisms of bacterial acid resistance, methods of detection of shiga-toxin E. coli, microbial safety of fresh vegetables, development of organic sanitizers, thermal inactivation and detection of B. anthracis, and growth and control of Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat foods. He teaches courses on food safety and food microbiology. Dr. Diez earned his B.S. in Food Technology, from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Queretaro, Mexico. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Food Science from Cornell University. Before joining the University of Minnesota in 1999, Dr. Diez was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Microbiology at Cornell University. Dr. Diez has authored more than 50 peer-review articles and 10 book chapters. He serves in the editorial board of the Journal of Food Protection, Food Analytical Methods, and Food Protection Trends. He has been a panel member of four different USDA/CSREES programs.
Development of pre-harvest control strategies of Escherichia coli O157:H7, mechanisms of bacterial acid resistance, inactivation and detection of Bacillus anthracis, microbial safety of fresh produce, safety of organic foods, and modeling and control of growth of Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat meats and Hispanic cheeses.
Within FScN: Ted Labuza on Food Defense projects and with Joellen Feirtag on Development of Organic Sanitizers.
Within the U of M: Jeff Bender, College of Vet. Medicine; Craig Hedberg, School of Public Health; Mike Sadowsky, Soil Water and Climate; Cindy Tong, Horticultural Sciences; Ron Phillips, Agronomy and Plant Genetics; Michelle Schermann, Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering; Jim Riddle, Organic Ecology; Carl Rosen, Horticultural Sciences; Alfredo DiCostanzo, Animal Science.
Outside collaborations: Todd Callaway, USDA/ARS; Andrew Brabban and Elizabeth Cutter, Evergreen State University; Emily Brown-Rosen, Pennsylvania Certified Organic; Jennifer Ryder Fox, California State University-Chico.
Viazis, S., and F. Diez-Gonzalez. 2011. Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli: The 20th. century’s emerging foodborne pathogen. A Review. Adv. Agron. 111: 1-50.
Viazis, S., M. Akhtar, A. Brabban, J. Feirtag, and F. Diez-Gonzalez. 2011. Isolation and host range characterization of lytic bacteriophages against enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli. J. Appl. Microbiol. 110:1323-1331.
He, L., T. Rodda, C. Haynes, T. Deschaines, T. Strother, F. Diez-Gonzalez, and T. P. Labuza. 2011. Detection of a foreign protein in milk using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy coupled with antibody-modified silver dendrites. Anal. Chem. 83: 1510–1513.
Lumor, S. E., F. Diez-Gonzalez, and T. P. Labuza. 2011. Detection of warfare agents in liquid foods using brine shrimp lethality assay. J. Food Sci. 76: T16-T19.
Viazis, S., M. Akhtar, J. Feirtag, and F. Diez-Gonzalez. 2011. Reduction of Escherichia coli O157:H7 viability on leafy green vegetables by treatment with a bacteriophage mixture and trans-cinnamaldehyde. Food Microbiol. 28: 149-157.
Leishman, O., M. Johnson, T. P. Labuza, and F. Diez-Gonzalez. 2010. Survival of Bacillus anthracis spores in fruit juices and wine. J. Food Prot. 73: 1694–1697.
Cho, S., F. Diez-Gonzalez, C. P. Fossler, S. J. Wells, C. W. Hedberg, J. B. Kaneene, P. L. Ruegg, L. D. Warnick, and J. B. Bender. 2009. Cattle-level risk factors associated with STEC on dairy farms in Minnesota. Can. J. Vet. Res. 73: 151-156.
Hilgren, J., K. M. J. Swanson, F. Diez-Gonzalez, and B. Cords. 2009. Susceptibilities of Bacillus subtilis, B. cereus and B. anthracis spores to liquid biocides. J. Food Prot. 72: 360-364.
Hilgren, J., K. M. J. Swanson, F. Diez-Gonzalez, and B. Cords. 2009. Inactivations of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, as a surrogate for Y. pestis, by liquid biocides in the presence of food residue. J. Food Prot. 72: 392-398.
DiLorenzo, N., C. R. Dahlen, F. Diez-Gonzalez, G. C. Lambs, J. E. Larson, and A. DiCostanzo. 2008. Effects of feeding polyclonal antibody preperations on rumen fermentation patterns, performance and carcass characteristics of feedlot steers. J. Ani. Sci. 86: 3023-2032.
Pal, A., T. P. Labuza, and F. Diez-Gonzalez. 2008. Evaluating the growth of Listeria monosytogenes in refrigerated ready-to-eat frankfurters - Influence of strain temperature, packaging, lactate and diacetate, and background microflora. J. Food Prot. 71: 1806-1816.
Pal, A., T. P. Labuza, and F. Diez-Gonzalez. 2008. Shelf life evaluation for ready-to-eat sliced uncured turkey breast and cured ham under probable storage conditions based on Listeria monocytogenes and psychrotroph growth. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 126:49-56.
Xu, S., T. P. Labuza, and F. Diez-Gonzalez. 2008. Inactivation of Bacillus anthracis spores in milk by a combination of biocides and heating at high-temperature short-time (HTST) pasteurization temperatures. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 3336-3341.
Diez-Gonzalez, F. 2007. Use of probiotics for livestock. Curr. Issues. Int. Microbiol. 8:15-24.
Hilgren, J., K. M. J. Swanson, F. Diez-Gonzalez, and B. Cords. 2007. Inactivation of Bacillus anthracis spores by liquid biocides in the presence of food residue. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 6370-6377.
Cho, S., J. B. Bender, F. Diez-Gonzalez, C. P. Fossler, C. W. Hedberg, J. B. Kaneene, P. L. Ruegg, L. D. Warnick, and S. J. Wells. 2006. Prevalence and characterization of Escherichia coli O157 isolates from Minnesota dairy farms and county fairs. J. Food Prot. 69:252-259.
Mukherjee, A., D. Speh, A. T. Jones, K. M. Buesing, L. T. L. Xiong, and F. Diez-Gonzalez. 2006. Longitudinal microbiological survey of fresh produce grown by farmers in the Upper Midwest. J. Food Prot. 69:1928-1936.
Xu, Sa., T. P. Labuza, and F. Diez-Gonzalez. 2006. Thermal inactivation of Bacillus anthracis spores in milk. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72:4479-4483.
Diez-Gonzalez, F. and Y. Karaibrahimoglu. 2004. Comparison of the glutamate-, arginine- and lysine-dependent acid resistance systems in Escherichia coli O157:H7. J. Appl. Microbiol. 96:1237-1244.
Mukherjee, A., D. Speh, E. A. Dyck, and F. Diez-Gonzalez. 2004. Pre-harvest evaluation of coliforms, Escherichia coli, Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 in organic and conventional produce grown by Minnesota farmers. J. Food Prot. 67:894-900.
Schamberger, G. P., R. L. Phillips, J. L. Jacobs, and F. Diez-Gonzalez. 2004. Reduction of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in cattle by feeding colicin E7-producing E. coli. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70:6053-6060.
