Determining shelf life is an important issue when developing new food products. Long shelf lives are particularly difficult to fit within commercial time constraints. In these cases, some form of shelf life prediction is useful to test the effects of new recipes. The challenge is to know the limiting factors for shelf life - which vary by product - and to develop effective testing methods.
Leatherhead performs ‘real time' and ‘accelerated' shelf life testing; the latter is a useful predictive tool for both NPD and troubleshooting. We test at a range of controlled temperature, humidity and light conditions, tailored for each product type.
Microbiology and Shelf Life
To meet the current demand for fresh and minimally processed foods with longer shelf-lives, manufacturers now have to explore alternative preservation methods more acceptable to the average consumer. At Leatherhead we have many years of experience in investigating the microbiological safety of raw and processed foods, and the methods and processes used to control bacterial and fungal pathogens, and spoilage organisms in a wide variety of foodstuffs. We have conducted numerous challenge studies to assess the safety and shelf life of foods and a significant part of our efforts have been dedicated to identifying and developing natural compounds as preservatives.
Our Food Safety Research Department offers a number of solutions for evaluating and improving the microbiological safety and stability of a product above and beyond the expected shelf life.
The services offered include:
Design, implementation and interpretation of challenge and shelf life trials
Modelling preservative activity in foods including the use of automated antimicrobial screening
Assessing the effect of variations in product formulation on microbial growth and survival
Monitoring the effect of processing on microbial survival and recovery in foods
Investigating the effect of the complexities of food matrices on microbial inactivation
Sensory Shelf Life Evaluation
The shelf life of food and drink products that are microbiologically stable is determined by chemical and physical changes within the products that lead to a deterioration in sensory characteristics.
Leatherhead's key to measuring such changes is to use appropriate sensory evaluation procedures, frequently in combination with relevant chemical and physical measurements.
Our main tests are:
Sensory profiling - using a highly experienced trained panel, to give a complete description of product quality characteristics and the way in which they change
Benchmarking - using a screened consumer panel, to give a cost-effective picture of likely consumer response
Quantitative consumer testing - using a representative consumer population, to give a complete and statistically valid picture
Leatherhead advises its clients on the relevance of measured changes to likely product shelf life.
To learn more about our Food Safety and Food Shelf Life services please contact Evangelia Komitopoulou.
Innovation, Development & SensoryIngredients | Pilot Plant | Product Development | Sensory and Consumer | Shelf Life | Texture and Mouthfeel | Troubleshooting
Food SafetyAudits | Crisis Management | Microbiology Research | Shelf Life
Analytical ServicesChemistry | Crisis Management | Microbiology | Physical Analysis
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Determining shelf life is an important issue when developing new food products. Long shelf lives are particularly difficult to fit within commercial time constraints. In these cases, some form of shelf life prediction is useful to test the effects of new recipes. The challenge is to know the limiting factors for shelf life - which vary by product - and to develop effective testing methods.
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