Shelf-Life Testing & Product Stability Studies
Determine expiration, best-by, and sell-by dates with confidence
Finding out the shelf life of your food product is a crucial step in preparing it for market. At the Food Innovation Center (FIC), we provide professional shelf-life testing services to help you determine accurate expiration dates, best-by dates, and sell-by dates for a wide variety of food and beverage products.
If you’re new to shelf-life studies or unsure which tests are right for your product, our food scientists can guide you through every step of the process—from study design to interpreting your results.
What Shelf-Life Testing Measures
Shelf-life testing evaluates how long a food product maintains its safety, quality, and sensory appeal under specific storage conditions. During a study, samples are conditioned and stored at controlled temperatures and humidity levels. Over time, we analyze quality and microbial changes to determine how long the product remains stable and safe for consumption.
Key factors assessed include:
- Microbial safety (spoilage and contamination risks)
- Physical and chemical stability (texture, color, pH, water activity, etc.)
- Sensory quality (appearance, flavor, aroma, and texture)
Expiration dates are determined based on both food safety and quality criteria, ensuring your product meets consumer and regulatory expectations.
Standard Shelf-Life Studies
Our Standard Shelf-Life Studies simulate real-world storage conditions to determine how your product performs over time. These tests can be conducted at ambient, refrigerated, or frozen temperatures depending on your product type and target market.
- Ideal for products with stable or moderate turnover
- Provides a realistic estimate of shelf stability
- Recommended for compliance, labeling, and product launch readiness
Accelerated Shelf-Life Studies
Our Accelerated Shelf-Life Studies (ASLT) are designed to speed up the testing process by storing products at elevated temperatures to simulate long-term storage. This approach helps predict how products will age and perform over time without waiting months for results.
- Ideal for early-stage product development or reformulation testing
- Provides rapid insights into shelf stability and packaging performance
- Supports faster decision-making for market readiness
Sample Conditioning & Storage
We maintain precise temperature- and humidity-controlled chambers for product conditioning and storage. These facilities are used for both full shelf-life studies and stand-alone conditioning projects.
Applications include:
- Simulating temperature fluctuations in your shipping stream
- Aging products for internal quality evaluation
- Preparing samples for testing in other FIC departments (Sensory, Food Safety, Product Development, etc.)
Our team works closely with each client to design a customized study plan that matches your product’s formulation, packaging, and distribution conditions.
