Secondary Shelf Life for Pantry and High Risk Items

Hi all,


Need help from manufacturers on secondary shelf life of common pantry items such as

• loose tea
• flour
• sugar
• salt
• spices whole
• spices ground
• meat and deli items
• cheese
• seafood and fish items
• poultry
• flavoring (liquid)
• flavoring (powder)
• soy sauce
• ketchup
• other condiments

Since most of the shelf life charts on-line are for primary and not secondary shelf life, it would really be great to hear from industry experts on such.

I already have my own chart, just need to verify.

Thanks again as always everyone!

Dear Althene,

One comment - For people like myself who hv never encountered "secondary shelf life", can try pgs 4-5 of this extract -

food shelf life, definitions 2012, concepts.pdf   4.01MB   207 downloads

It is possible that the wide scope of individual items in yr list may restrict the relevance of replies, eg for "cheese", consider the data in this link -

http://quizlet.com/1...es-flash-cards/

12 hrs - 4 days ?

Rgds / Charles.C

thanks charles!

i have found a great site though. its complete with both secondary and primary shelf life.

http://www.stilltasty.com

secondary shelf life is a term we use in the hospitality industry for shortened shelf life of food items once it is opened from its original packaging.
i have attached my table for everybody's comments and feedback.

unless otherwise stated, the 2ndary shelf life at the attached file refers to chilled storage.
we pegged these at such time frames based from operations.


cheers! :)

Dear Althene,

It is an amazing website. Criteria are nicely explained but I don’t see a single numerical validation ??

It’s always easy to nitpick however maybe a little caution required on some of the data, eg american cheese, individual wrapped, opened package.

Refrigerated shelf life is suggested 1-2 months.
http://www.stilltast...ems/index/16348

Compare data in my previous post ?? Must say, from personal (typical?) experience, I do find the above range rather unbelievable. Perhaps a question of best quality interpretation.? (Frankly I even found the [hopefully] related value in yr own chart [2 weeks] a little optimistic IMEX).

Similarly the nominated, refrigerated shelf life of the unopened presentation is a very strange type of answer IMO ?
http://www.stilltast...ems/index/16349
(just had a look in my fridge, printed shelf life = 1 year, maybe website added 10%? )
(a slightly more detailed ref. here - SLICEDAMERICANFACTSHEET.pdf   14.28KB   46 downloads )
No doubt that this topic can be very subjective with respect to chosen criteria. I always keep my bread in the refrigerator unlike website’s (and many other people’s) recommendation. I tend to go along with the later comments in this post –
http://lifehacker.co...s-the-freshness

Nonetheless it is a fascinating and informative compilation. And thks for yr chart also.

Rgds / Charles.C

Hello, 

 

   I have to make a secondary shelf life chart as per my QA but when i told him that i found online that fruits and vegetables can stay cut up in the refrigerator for 3 days, he said it is not correct, secondary shelf life should be 1 day only. 

 

I have a huge list of items and now i am confused. What shall i do? how to make it?

The only real way to know what your secondary shelf is, is to send product away for shelf life testing

 

Using very short secondary shelf is a really good idea, not just from food safety but also from a business perspective (buying only what you need)

 

Fruit and veg because of the very high water content, tend to degrade rapidly once cut (cellular oxidation) 

 

https://food.unl.edu...tor-and-freezer

 

This is for at home, but i'm sure most would transfer readily to commercial kitchens