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Alin Turila

Alin Turila

Alin Turila 
KESS2 Academic Associate (PhD)
Email: aturila@cardiffmet.ac.uk
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My role at the ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre

Following a successful application for a KESS2 Scholarship, I began my PhD at the ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre.

The PhD project focuses on the optimisation of cleaning and sanitation operations in a ready-to-eat small and medium enterprise through food handlers’ behavioural change by using bespoke interventions based on cognitive, behavioural, observational and food safety performance data.

Impact of the project

The project will result in high quality, unique and novel research outcomes and will link ZERO2FIVE/Cardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences researchers with extensive food safety/technical expertise with high and low-risk food sector businesses associated with the company partner. This will be a source of potentially transferable food safety culture/ bespoke intervention design expertise in Wales and will have a significant impact within the  field  of  food  safety, particularly related to industry compliance, food safety culture, cognitive determination, behavioural/microbiological assessment and training in food production environments.

Supervisory Team

Dr Elizabeth Redmond and Dr Ellen Evans, both of whom have extensive knowledge and have been actively involved in similar research projects are part of the supervisory team. Professor John Holah, who has wide-ranging knowledge on food hygiene and who is the author of several books on best cleaning practices in food processing, acts as an advisor to the project.

Public Profile

• LinkedIn
• ORCID
• Research Gate

Previous Experience

Throughout my undergraduate studies, I’ve been involved in a project focusing on the development and preparation of edible film coatings to be used as active packaging material and the evaluation of their effectiveness on different food products’ shelf life.

During my postgraduate studies, my dissertation has been part of a larger DANIDA (Danish International Development Agency) project. I’ve focused on studying the genome of Streptococcus infantarius isolates using in silico methods. The aim of the project has been to determine the subspecies’ consumption safety as a dairy starter culture. The multidisciplinary aspect of the project required good understanding of molecular microbiology, bioinformatics, epidemiology and food microbiology and safety.

I was awarded twice by the Ministry of Education, Research and Innovation, Romania for the research activity undertaken during my undergraduate studies. I’ve been the recipient of two separate CEEPUS Scholarship Awards to study wettability of various gelatin-based films with food packaging applications at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary and use high-performance liquid chromatography to measure the composition of active ingredients in previously developed active packaging films at University of Zagreb, Croatia.

Qualifications and Professional Memberships

Bachelor of Science in Food Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca
Master of Science in Food Science and Technology, Denmark’s Technical University

Professional Memberships:

International Association of Food Protection
Society for Applied Microbiology

Journals and Publications

Peer Reviewed Publications:

Mihaly Cozmuta, Alin Turila, Robert Apjok, Alexandra Ciocian, Leonard Mihaly Cozmuta, Anca Peter, Camelia Nicula, Nives Galić, and Tomislav Benković. 2015. “Preparation and Characterization of Improved Gelatin Films Incorporating Hemp and Sage Oils.” Food Hydrocolloids 49:144–55.

Mihaly Cozmuta, Anca Peter, Leonard Mihaly Cozmuta, Camelia Nicula, Liliana Crisan, Lucian Baia, and Alin Turila. 2015. “Active Packaging System Based on Ag/TiO 2 Nanocomposite Used for Extending the Shelf Life of Bread. Chemical and Microbiological Investigations.” Packaging Technology and Science 28(4):271–84.

International Conference Contributions:

Alin Turila, Ellen W. Evans and Elizabeth C. Redmond (2019) Determination of milk allergen contamination in a ready-meal sector small and medium enterprise (SME): a case study. Poster presented at The 11th International Conference on Culinary Arts and Sciences (ICCAS) on 26-27th June 2019, Cardiff, Wales, UK.

Alin Turila, John T. Holah, Ellen W. Evans and Elizabeth C. Redmond (2019) Listeria contamination and identification of potential growth niches in a ready-to-eat manufacturing small and medium sized enterprise (SME): A case study. Poster presented at the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) Annual Meeting on 21st-24th July, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA.

Alin Turila (2015) Presented results from: Preparation and Characterization of Improved Gelatin Films Incorporating Hemp and Sage Oils. International Conference Student in Bucovina, 2015, Suceava, Romania. – Presented a paper

For up-to-date conference contributions, please see here