dr. G (Giorgiana) Catunescu

I am a food scientist with a PhD in Biotechnology and a certificate in food risk assessment granted by EFSA (within the EU-FORA fellowship), interested in Food Quality Management. I am a lecturer with the FQD, involved in teaching activities mainly in the Food Quality Management Master's program and (co-)supervising PhD and master's theses related to quality and safety along the chain, food safety risk assessment, risk communication and perception, risk-benefit analysis of circular practices, adoption and impelentation of novel technologies in food industry, sustainability in food industry and increasing consumer acceptability of novel food products.

Before coming to FQD, I have been a faculty with the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Romania, for 15 years. I was involved in both teaching and research. I delivered lectures and practical seminars on: Food Industry Equipment and Facilities, Food Equipment Management, Agri-Food Marketing, Biological hazard assessment and control in food quality management. My research was focused on the impact of mild and novel processing methods on food quality in terms of physico-chemical and sensory characteristics, but also food safety in terms of microbiological safety. I studied herbal extracts and anthocyanins with a wide array of methods and instruments (physico-chemical characterization and bioactivity) related to their extraction from food industry side streams and their potential use as natural antioxidants and antimicrobial agents for foods and food contact materials.

I was an EFSA’s EU-FORA fellow (2018-2019 cohort) working on risk assessment methodologies for contaminants, food contact materials, technological ingredients, and nutritional risks. I was also a Fulbright scholar at Cornell CALS (winter semester of 2022-2023) where I studied the effectiveness of cold pasteurization (high-intensity pulsed lights) combined with antimicrobial biodegradable packaging in extending the shelf life of minimally processed produce.

In terms of projects, I worked mainly in risk assessment. I have implemented 5 EFSA’s EU-FORA grants on an array of topics related to risk assessment, risk communication and perception, from quantitative microbial risk assessment models for fresh produce (2022-2023) to linking risk assessment and consumer trust in emerging technologies across fresh food supply chains (2026-2027). I have also managed an EFSA procurement grant on the risk assessment of alternative, sustainable methods for the safe use and disposal of animal by-products.