Quality & Sensory
The period during which a food remains safe and retains its intended sensory, chemical, physical and microbiological characteristics under stated storage conditions.
The date printed on every packaged food label, based on real storage testing rather than a guess.
Estimating shelf life by storing product under elevated stress, usually temperature, and extrapolating using a kinetic model such as Q10 or Arrhenius.
The ratio of the vapour pressure of water in a food to the vapour pressure of pure water at the same temperature. It measures how much water is available for microbial growth and chemical reactions — not how much water is present.
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