Record Retention Time

I am reviewing our record retention system, and can find no guidelines on how long we should keep our quality records.
I am thinking about something like "shelf life, plus 2 years", is this typical?

BUMP for Wombat.

Hello wombat:

Someone told me that we must first refer to any regulatory requirement regarding the retention period of documents/records e.g. 7 years for accounts-related document.

Secondly, if there is no regulatory requirement, the use the shelf-life of the products and also consider the storage area you have.

Regards,
Yong

I've never had a straight answer on this. I would also challenge on whether you could keep electronic records (there are scanning companies out there now who will scan in paperwork and dispose of it for you) meaning you could keep it all pretty much forever.

Remember likely consumer use, especially freezing if that applies to your product.

The longest I have ever been required to keep records is 7 years. And that was by a couple of global food brands. If you keep them for seven you cannot go wrong. Provided you have the space, if they are hard copy.