Food Shelf Life Testing & Challenge Test
Mérieux NutriSciences offers food shelf life testing and food challenge test services to help manufacturers define the best before and use-by dates.
Manufacturers are responsible for determining the shelf-life of foods they produce according to national and international food safety and hygiene regulations. Best before and use by date labels are essential to consumers’ health, as it provides key information on how long food can be kept before it begins to deteriorate or may become unsafe to eat.
Our Shelf Life Testing Services
In our Food Science Centers, our experts offer a complete shelf life testing services portfolio that helps manufacturers validate and display correctly best before and use by date. Our procedures include microbiological testing of food and packaging materials. Sensory changes such as odour, texture and colour are also important aspects to be considered.
Mérieux NutriSciences can assist the food industrials with:
Why food shelf life testing?
Food shelf life testing is needed in a wide range of situations including:
- New product launch
- Change of packaging
- Change in product formulation
- Change of supplier
- QA/QC program
Our Food Challenge Test Services
Food challenge test services are used to simulate what happens when a food is contaminated during its shelf life, including processing, storage, and transportation. It consists of inoculating the food with targeted pathogens or spoilage micro-organisms under controlled experimental conditions. Challenge studies are useful to understand safety or spoilage risks in a food product.
Why a food challenge test?
Mérieux NutriSciences can assist the food industrials when a food challenge test is needed:
- Evaluation of a preservative effect
- Safety assessment of food products in the absence of killing step
Mérieux NutriSciences’ reliable food testing laboratory network provides manufacturers with advanced scientific capabilities. Contact our experts to discuss the shelf-life of your food product and how we can help you.
