Determining the shelf life of your food product is an important part of getting it ready for market. We provide testing that determines expiration dates, best-by dates, and sell-by dates for a variety of food products. Food samples are conditioned and stored in specific temperatures and humidity conditions. Changes in product are then analyzed and evaluated through quality and microbial safety analyses. Expiration dates are determined by food safety and quality criteria.

Sample Conditioning and Storage 

We offer Standard Shelf Life studies. We provide temperature and humidity chambers for sample conditioning and storage. Our conditioning chambers have a temperature range of -35°-200°C and can be programmed to change temperature and humidity set points to match your product’s lifecycle. We work closely with clients to design a personalized study and then carry out sampling, quality and microbial analyses. The conditioning chambers are also available for use outside of full Shelf Life Studies. This includes, but is not limited to, conditioning products according to temperature fluctuations in your shipping stream, aging products for your internal quality analysis, or aging products to use with other departments at the FIC (Sensory, Food Safety, and Product Development)

Standard Shelf Life Study

In a Standard Shelf Life Study the product is conditioned and stored at a similar storage temperature and humidity as the distribution environment. Changes in the product are evaluated at a specific sampling duration. Changes include spikes in microbial levels, changes is consistency, odor, or color.