Food Testing - Shelf Life Validation & Verification

SHELF LIFE VALIDATION & VERIFICATION :

What is it?
Microbial evaluation of a products ability to achieve its desired shelf life under the specified storage conditions. Either to validate that the target shelf life is achievable or to verify that it can be achieved by the working practises in place.

How is it performed?
The product is manufactured under typical conditions. Microbial test suites, customised for each product based on a predictive microbial risk assessment, are performed at regular intervals throughout the product’s entire target shelf life.

When do you do it?
Normally performed at NPD trial stage. It is best used when the microflora is inherent in the product or where the environmental flora is well understood and unlikely to vary.

Pros
Builds confidence in the products ability to achieve its intended microbial stability under specified storage conditions by examining the effect of natural microflora.

Cons
Relies on the presence of natural flora at a single production time point so it is specific for the conditions of manufacture at the time the test batch was made. It does not challenge the potential variation in microflora that may be present. As such it does not provide a robust challenge of a products microbial stability as determined by its intrinsic and extrinsic factors.