ABSTRACT
Shelf life may be defined as the period of time during which the food product will remain safe, be certain to retain desired sensory, chemical physical (1) and microbiological characteristics, and comply with any label declaration of nutrition data, when stored under recommended conditions. The dependence of the kinetics of microbiologic growth/death or of nutrient loss on environmental factors varies from product to product and process to process and must, therefore, be established for each specific case to be evaluated. It is the responsibility of the food manufacturer (together with the retailer for their own label products) to determine shelf life of food.
