Validation of predicted microbial shelf life and safety

Verify the results of your predictive modelling

Once it leaves your facilities, your product will be exposed to multiple, and often unideal, conditions. For example, it may be stocked in the store’s refrigeration unit for a time, then purchased and transported in an ambient temperature to the consumer’s home, and finally kept in the consumer’s refrigerator– which may not offer the optimal temperature for your product.

Predictive modelling can give you key insight into your potential product’s shelf life, and the possible growth of any pathogens or spoilers throughout the chain. A variety of conditions can be incorporated, without requiring multiple shelf life studies. Sensory elements such as changes of your product’s visual appearance or texture can also be incorporated in such predictive models. But models may not capture all factors that determine shelf life, for instance when you use novel (bio)preservatives or multiple distinct components.

After this first screening, you want to validate those results with real products, enabling you to go to market confident that the consumer will enjoy a safe and unspoiled product.

Real time and accelerated shelf-life studies

Using small batches of your product with different formulations and processing conditions, NIZO can assess how your product performs over time under controlled conditions, including the growth of various microbial contaminants of concern.

Then we can provide you with practical advice on how to extend the shelf life of your product, as well as the optimal product formulation and/or production process.

NIZO can:

• Verify the results of predictive studies on a product’s shelf life
• Evaluate the shelf life in real time and in accelerated time
• Provide expert advice on maximising shelf life