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Food Shelf Life Testing

April 17,2023

What is shelf life testing of food?

Shelf life is a product of physical, microbiological, and chemical processes, triggered by any one of a multitude of contributing factors. Product characteristics, including the quality and consistency of ingredients, the moisture content, and acidity levels, all play a part, as do external factors like storage, transport, and packaging materials. 


Why is shelf life testing important? 

Products should be inspected at suitable times and samples tested for stability of the critical physical and chemical characteristics. If you are selling your food product in a retail environment, your retailer will more than likely require a shelf life test. At some point, you should strongly consider getting shelf life testing to give your product a valid expiration date. 

How do test the shelf life of food? 

 1. Divide the same batch of products into five groups; each group needs 8-10 samples; put them in five boxes; 

2. Set the test chamber to 5°C, 30°C, 35°C, 40°C, and 45°C respectively. 

3. The sample at 5°C serves as the control sample. 30°C, 35°C, 40°C, and 45°C are accelerated destruction tests. 

4. Start the observation from the sample at 45°C. According to the situation, start from 10 days and take out a control every five days. When the product begins to deteriorate, this group will stop the test and record the number of days of the test as 15 days. The number of days at 40°C, 35°C, and 30°C is measured sequentially as approximately 30 days + 2 days, 60 days + 1, 120 days + 1 day. 

5. Calculate q10=4 with 10°C as a gradient.As long as you know that q10=4, you can calculate the shelf life (20℃-25℃) of the products on the market by testing a high-temperature point in the future. Of course, in order to be more precise and rigorous, several different temperature points can be tested multiple times to verify q10. 

6. The storage period of the product in the market (20℃-25℃)=15 days*4*4=240 days. (15 days is the number of days measured at 45°C, 45°C has two gradients relative to the market environment (20°C-25°C), so multiply it by two q10). 


What equipment can perform the test? 

LIB temperature and humidity test chamber is to simulate temperature and humidity conditions with accurate control. Various models and sizes are available to provide the exact test chamber for food shelf life testing.


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