It was wonderful seeing so many people at the Reciprocal Meat Conference this week in Oklahoma City. Thanks to all the AMSA board and staff for putting on a great meeting. Also, thanks for the invitation to speak on shelf life.

Just some highlights from my talk and some discussions with friends in the industry: Shelf-life, unlike food safety, is never the life of the party. Most of the time, 95% of the discussions at these industry meetings are food safety related and then there is about 5% “miscellaneous.” Shelf-life is not ever the major discussion, but it can be the major problem for many processors, retailers, and restaurants. Customers expect food safety, but quality (including shelf life) is a major driver of repeat purchasing power for consumers.

When I talk about shelf life, one of the first questions I ask is what is the problem? Shelf life can mean issues with spoilage bacteria, color, flavor, odor, and any quality issue that is related to degradation of product. Defining the problem is the key to the next steps in solving the issues. The next question is what has changed? Normally the answer I get is “nothing has changed." But we all know that’s not true. Something must change for problems to occur. Change can be anything from different incoming raw material, new equipment, new antimicrobials/antioxidants/ingredients, temperature changes (summer versus winter), packaging issues, and new employees. All of these can constitute a change and should be included in the discussion of what has changed to cause shelf-life issues.

Most of the time, sanitation is the scapegoat for any shelf-life issues. Sometimes sanitation may be the case, but sometimes it may not. Hence the question above related to what has changed. However, sanitation does play a major role in shelf life. Validating methods and verifying results are critical to maintaining low spoilage bacterial loads. But there are some other things to consider and verify during sanitation other than just checking micro data. Do not underestimate the value of the dry pick-up step. After the first rinse, standard practice says that 95% of the area should look visible clean. Do not rush this step. Most shelf-life issues are an environmental cleaning issue versus a sanitation issue. We can never sanitize a dirty surface.

When sanitation is not blamed, we blame temperature, and I cannot argue that point. A 1-2ºF change in temperature can decrease shelf life by one to two days. My reference for this is personal experience. Holding product at 38ºF versus 36ºF will decrease the expected shelf life. If we throw in temperature fluctuations, especially during summer months when the environmental temperature is already warmer than usual, then we will have shelf-life issues.

My final thought is to account for people not making the smartest choices when dealing with your product. For example (and there are many examples), not all consumers bring cooler bags with them to the grocery store to prepare for the 60-minute ride home in August. Always plan to save people from themselves and their decisions by adding in some extra days of shelf-life beyond what is on the label (which is already confusing to consumers).

Shelf life may not be the life of the party at most meetings. But if you know me and you were at my talk, you know that whatever I am talking about, that topic becomes the life of the party. Being passionate about shelf life is half the battle of making it a priority and avoiding potential issues.

Shelf-life is never the life of the party

Join for free* to continue reading.