College of Agriculture & Natural Resources│College of Engineering Department of Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering

Ian Hildebrandt is a Biosystems Engineering Research Specialist that focuses on improving food safety through process design optimization and improved validation tools. Using laboratory- and pilot-scale biosafety level 2 facilities, he focuses on the translation of foodborne pathogen research to industry-ready information. His expertise includes the development of mathematical and living (surrogate) models for predicting pathogen inactivation (e.g., Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria monocytogenes) in various food matrices. Ian received his B.S. and M.S in Biosystems Engineering from MSU after which he worked with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Afterwards, he returned to MSU to receive his Ph.D. in Biosystems Engineering.  

Publications

Hildebrandt IM, Marks BP. 2024. Improving the Utility of Surrogates Intended for Foodborne Pathogen Preventive Control Validations. Current Opinion in Food Science. 57, 101153. 

Hildebrandt IM, Riddell LM, Hall NO, James MK, Marks BP. 2024. Demonstration of Inappropriate Validation Method for a Cracker Baking Process Using Predictive Modeling. Journal of Food Protection. 87, 100298. 

Ahmad NH, Hildebrandt IM, Pickens SR, Vasquez S, Jin YQ, Liu SX, Hilk LA, Tsai HC, Lau SK, D’Souza RC, Kumar S, Subbiah J, Thippareddi H, Zhu MJ, Tang JM, Anderson NM, Grasso-Kelley EM, Ryser ET, Marks BP. Interlaboratory Evaluation of Enterococcus faecium NRRL B-2354 as a Salmonella surrogate for Validating Thermal Treatment of Multiple Low-Moisture Foods. Journal of Food Protection. 85(11): 1538-1552. 

Hildebrandt IM, Hall NO, James MK, Ryser ET, Marks BP. 2021. Process Humidity Affects Salmonella Lethality at the Surface and Core of Impingement-Cooked Meat and Poultry Products. Journal of Food Protection. 84(9): 1512-1523. 

Rana YS, Eberly PM, Suehr QJ, Hildebrandt IM, Marks BP, Snyder AB. 2021. Survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 during Moderate Temperature Dehydration of Plant-Based Foods. Foods. 10, 2162. 

Hildebrandt IM, Marks BP, Anderson NM, and Grasso-Kelley EM. 2020. Reproducibility of Salmonella Thermal Resistance Measurements via Multi-laboratory Isothermal Inactivation Experiments. Journal of Food Protection. 83:609-614. 

Mousssavi M, Frelka JC, Hildebrandt IM, Marks BP, and Harris LJ. 2020. Thermal Resistance of Foodborne Pathogens and Enterococcus faecium NRRL B-2354 on Inoculated Pistachios. Journal of Food Protection. 83:1125-1136. 

Jin YQ, Pickens SR, Hildebrandt IM, Burbick SJ, Grasso-Kelley EM, Keller SE, and Anderson NM. 2018. Thermal Inactivation of Salmonella Agona in Low-Water Activity Foods: Predictive Models for the Combined Effect of Temperature, Water Activity, and Food Component. Journal of Food Protection. 81:1411-1417. 

Keller SE, Anderson NM, Wang C, Burbick SJ, Hildebrandt IM, Gonsalves LJ, Suehr QJ, and Santillana Farakos SM. 2018. Survival of Salmonella during Production of Partially Sprouted Pumpkin, Sunflower, and Chia Seeds Dried for Direct Consumption. Journal of Food Protection. 81:520-527  

Daryaei H, Penaloza W, Hildebrandt IM, Krishnamurthy K, Thiruvengadam P, and Wan J. 2018. Heat Inactivation of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli in a Selection of Low Moisture Foods. Food Control. 85:48-56. 

Hildebrandt IM, Hu CX, Grasso-Kelley EM, Ye PR, Anderson NM, and Keller SE. 2017. Dry Transfer Inoculation of Low-Moisture Spices Containing Antimicrobial Compounds. Journal of Food Protection. 80:338-344.  

Salazar JK, Sahu SN, Hildebrandt IM, Zhang LJ, Qi YJ, Liggans G, Datta AR, and Tortorello ML. 2017. Growth Kinetics of Listeria monocytogenes in Cut Produce. Journal of Food Protection. 80:1328-1336 

Smith DF, Hildebrandt IM, Casulli KE, Dolan KD, and Marks BP. 2016. Modeling the Effect of Temperature and Water Activity on the Thermal Resistance of Salmonella Enteritidis PT 30 in Wheat Flour. Journal of Food Protection. 79:2058-2065.  

Hildebrandt IM, Marks BP, Ryser ET, Villa-Rojas R, Tang JM, Garces-Vega FJ, and Buchholz SE. 2016. Effects of Inoculation Procedures on Variability and Repeatability of Salmonella Thermal Resistance in Wheat Flour. Journal of Food Protection. 79:1833-1839. 

Hildebrandt IM, Marks BP, Juneja VK, Osoria M, Hall NO, and Ryser ET. 2016. Cross- Laboratory Comparative Study of the Impact of Experimental and Regression Methodologies on Salmonella Thermal Inactivation Parameters in Ground Beef. Journal of Food Protection. 79:1097-1106.