Shelf Life of foods
The shelf life is the period of time in which the food remains safe and suitable for consumption, since it is stored in accordance with the conditions established by the manufacturer. This means that the food must:
- Remain safe for consumption, ie not cause infections and food poisoning due to pathogenic microorganisms or toxin production (bacterial or fungal) during storage;
- Maintain its characteristics, that is, not present a significant loss of any nutrient or component, considering the composition requirements, as in the case of food supplements, foods for special purposes and foods with nutritional claims, and the rules of labeling and tolerance defined in the legislation.
- Maintain its sensory quality and not deteriorate in a way that would make its consumption inappropriate.
Food sold in Brazil must meet the requirements established by law and technical regulations issued by Anvisa or other public regulatory agents. The expiration date starts counting from the moment the food is prepared or manufactured and must be informed on the packaged food label, observing the terminology and rules for the declaration of dates.
There are several internal and external factors that influence the shelf life of foods such as the nature and quality of the raw material, formulation, oxygen availability, processing, packaging type, storage temperature, distribution cycle and cooling procedure, in the case of heat-treated foods.
Scitec Laboratories has a complete infrastructure to carry out shelf life tests on food, with climatic chambers for real-time and accelerated tests. We also have physical-chemical and microbiological laboratories, which allows our customers to find a complete solution for evaluating the quality and determining the shelf life of their products in a single laboratory.
Main legislations we comply with:
Meat:
- Normative Instruction 6 of February 15, 2001.
- Normative Instruction 92 of September 18, 2020.
- Normative Instruction 14 of June 3, 2019.
Fish:
- Normative Instruction 1 of January 15, 2019.
- Normative Instruction 23 of August 20, 2019.
- Normative Instruction 24 of August 20, 2019.
Milk and derivatives:
- Normative Instruction 76 of November 26, 2018.
- Normative Instruction 37 of October 31, 2000.
- Ordinance 146 of March 7, 1996.
Eggs:
- Resolution 5 of July 5, 1991.
Honey:
- Normative Instruction 3 of January 19, 2001.
- Normative Instruction 11 of October 20, 2000.
Microbiological Standards:
- Normative Instruction 60 of December 23, 2019.
