SHELF-LIFE TESTING

Shelf-Life

• Organoleptic Testing – Appearance, Aroma, and Texture of your product over time
• pH
• Water Activity / Moisture
• Peroxide Value / P Anisidine (additional cost)
• Yeast
• Mold 
• Aerobic Plate Count – Total Coliforms
  

Price: $1,325

Turnaround Time:  based on Shelf Life Expectancy 

Sample Size: 6 full-size freshly packaged samples (minimum of 4 oz of product per sample) + 2 extra samples for confirmation

Accelerated Shelf-Life

• Organoleptic Testing – Appearance, Aroma, and Texture of your product over time
• pH
• Water Activity / Moisture
• Peroxide Value / P Anisidine (additional cost)
• Yeast
• Mold 
• Aerobic Plate Count – Total Coliforms
  

Price:  $1,870

Turnaround Time: Due to artificially manufactured deterioration, 1 month of real time shelf life testing is equivalent to 8 days of accelerated shelf life testing.

Sample Size: 6 full-size freshly packaged samples (minimum of 4 oz of product per sample) + 2 extra samples for confirmation

Combination

• Organoleptic Testing – Appearance, Aroma, and Texture of your product over time
• pH
• Water Activity / Moisture
• Peroxide Value / P Anisidine (additional cost)
• Yeast
• Mold 
• Aerobic Plate Count – Total Coliforms
  

Price: $2,695

Turnaround Time: Based on real shelf life expectancy for Standard results/ 1 month equivalent to 8 days accelerated testing

Sample Size: 12 full-size freshly packaged samples (minimum of 4 oz of product per sample) + 2 extra samples for confirmation

No matter what your testing needs are, RL Labs can provide you with the specific reports and analysis summary so that you have a clear path forward.

WHAT IS SHELF-LIFE TESTING?

Real-time shelf-life testing determines the optimal life expectancy of your food, beverage, pet food, or supplement with the goal of achieving a Best Used By Date. Although it is not specified in FDA regulations, having a best used by or expiration date on your product is often a retail requirement in order to ensure the quality, safety and freshness of products. Shelf-life labeling

can vary by state.

Shelf-life testing is performed by storing product samples under normal conditions and evaluating them at scheduled intervals. At each pull point, microbiologists measure microbial, chemical, and sensory values and compare results against regulatory limits and retailer standards. A product is considered to have reached the end of its shelf life when microbial counts exceed acceptable thresholds or when quality falls below the defined standard. Shelf-Life Testing can be conducted on refrigerated, frozen, or ambient room storage products and supplements.

ACCELERATED SHELF-LIFE TESTING

Accelerated shelf-life testing (ASLT) can be conducted on refrigerated, frozen, or ambient room storage products and supplements. ASLT artificially accelerates the rate of deterioration through increasing the temperature and humidity of a product, therefore damaging it, without altering the mechanisms or order of changes seen in the product under normal conditions. ASLT tests for the same indicators as real time testing, but in approximately a quarter of the time. If you request a 12-month real time shelf-life study, we will conduct the accelerated test 1 week (8 days) for every month. This means data from one year can be known in 3.5 months. Accelerated shelf-life testing can help your product line to determine the best storage practices, maintain quality, extend product shelf-life, and identify potential stability issues early on. ASLT is ideal for shelf stable products and supplements that have long expected shelf lives.

Note: Not all products are eligible for Accelerated Shelf Life Testing.

WHY COMBINE ACCELERATED & REAL-TIME TESTING?

It is highly recommended that a real-time shelf-life study be conducted simultaneously with an Accelerated Shelf Life Test to validate shelf life expectancy. If during the accelerated testing there is a spike out of range for the product, the microbiologist can verify exactly where the spike occurred from real time sample testing. It may have occurred in week 3, which would be month 3, but the failure may really have occurred in month 4 from real time testing.

MICROBIOLOGY REPORT AT EACH TEST POINT AND FINAL TEST POINT

When you choose RL Labs for shelf life testing and accelerated shelf life testing services, you’ll receive detailed shelf-life reports at each testing stage, a day zero report, and a final summary upon testing completion. Our microbiologists provide pass/fail results and data analysis, and the lab director provides the final report.

SHELF LIFE TESTING SAMPLE SUBMISSION AND LAB HOURS

Samples are received at our laboratory Monday thru Friday ONLY (the lab is closed on weekends for deliveries) before 12 noon for first day testing, otherwise, testing will begin the next day. The ideal date to ship samples is Monday and Tuesday to ensure they arrive prior to the weekend.

Samples should be shipped with cold packs or dry ice, as necessary, Overnight, to preserve the

integrity of the product.