Shelf life
Food shelf life is the amount of time that the food product remains acceptable to eat. Within the shelf life the product will remain safe and retain the desired sensory, chemical, physical and microbiological characteristics. Below is a collection of articles related to shelf life. To find out more about our shelf life services get in touch – support@campdenbri.co.uk.

Superchilled sustainabilty
Lesley Galpin, Head of Technical at Lyons Seafoods, shares her key learning around the implementation of superchilling, as a method to extend the shelf-life ...

Superchilling has positive impacts on food preservation and energy consumption
Campden BRI are helping the industry extend their chilled food products shelf-life, without affecting sensory attributes.

‘Use by’, ‘best before’, ‘display until’ – what’s the difference and why does it matter?
Let’s look at what they mean and how they are different from each other.

Fish, seafood and its preservation: How can we extend shelf-lives?
Why are fish and seafood products so perishable? Here we explore that and how our new research project is attempting to increase the shelf-life of these prod...

Reducing food waste – what impact does ingredient age have on shelf-life?
Food manufacturers tolerate roughly 5% waste within their food processes under normal production, but often look for ways to reduce it.

Food delivery is on the rise – but is it always safe?
COVID-19 has obviously been devastating for almost every aspect of the food industry, but perhaps a calling for food delivery.

Can we assume consumers’ fridges are at a safe temperature?
Current UK Food Standards Agency guidance is that chilled foods should be stored at 5°C throughout life even though the legal maximum temperature for chill i...

Novel natural preservative systems for use in drinks, sauces and other high aw foods
This project will practically assess potential novel preservatives to understand efficacy and whether other processing steps are needed to ensure their effec...

Predictive modelling to determine shelf-life – what can it tell us?
Predictive modelling is a tool used to assess the survival and/or growth of a microorganism under a range of temperatures, pH and water activities.

New way of assessing shelf-life for chilled products
E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria – we’re all aware of the ‘buzzword’ bacteria, but we pay less attention to all the other countless species that naturally occur...

Microbiological shelf life testing – new approaches
This project aims to reconsider the methods and procedures used to define microbiological shelf life.

Are fridge temperature assumptions correct?
New research indicates that assumptions about fridge temperatures may not be accurate. Linda Everis, principal research officer at Campden BRI explains its i...

Extension of product shelf-life through superchilling
This recording looks at how a member-funded project has investigated a range of products showing strong potential for shelf-life extension during storage.

Improving food quality using advanced microbial profiling
How DNA profiling can reveal so much more about the microbiological quality of food.

Considerations for determining shelf-life
Assigning the correct shelf-life requires a great deal of thought. Obviously, if it is too long there is the potential for food spoilage or growth of food pa...

Understanding the safe shelf life of foods using advanced microbial profiling
This project will revaluate microbial specifications for a range of chilled products and analyse the effect that naturally occurring microflora has on the gr...

Setting a shelf life for ambient food
How to set a ‘best before’ shelf life date for ambient goods is a commercial decision.

Enhanced shelf life evaluation using Advanced Microbial Profiling
This recording outlines the principles and applications of Advanced Microbial Profiling and how it can be used to determine a more meaningfu...

Advanced microbial profiling (AMP)
Greg Jones discusses the applications of AMP to the food and drink industry, such a factory hygiene, traceability, authenticity and shelf life. (Greg Jones)

Colour stability during shelf life
Lycored approached us to help with shelf life trials. We developed a method to compare ten different colour blends for manufactured surimi seafood sticks.

Blast chiller-freezer
Our Armfield blast chiller-freezer can blast chill, blast freeze or individually quick freeze products on a fluidised bed.

Things you need to consider when setting a shelf life
The shelf-life of a product is the time that it remains acceptable to eat. Within the shelf life the product will remain safe and retain the desired sensory,...

Extension of product shelf-life through super chilling
This session outlines member funded project work on investigating food products showing strong potential for shelf life extension through su...

Producing shelf-stable cocktails
The consumption of cocktails is on the rise, and drinks companies are keen to capitalise on the increase in demand. (Geoff Taylor)

Pasteurised chilled food shelf life
Linda Everis discusses the effects of spoilage organisms and heat processing on product shelf life.

Superchilling to improve quality and shelf-life
Members have voted for a new project on superchilling for improved product shelf-life and quality. (Greg Jones)

Challenge testing
A challenge test is the deliberate addition of specific microorganisms to monitor their growth in a product.

How to determine product microbiological shelf–life
In determining the shelf-life of a particular food, the first pre-requisite is to know what particular characteristic of the food is going to be the limiting...

Challenge testing
Food safety is a major concern for everyone involved in the food industry from producers to policy makers and retailers to consumers, and it is imperative th...

Determining the shelf-life of food products
Roy Betts, Head of Microbiology, explains predictive microbiology and challenge testing, and how the two complement each other in determining the ...