How does ingredient life impact shelf life of the finished product?

Hello ,

How the shelf life of the components determines the shelf life of the finished product?

 

EG. ingredients list:

                A -                    6 months shelf life

                B -                    9 months shelf life

                C -                   12 months shelf life

                MIX and packing

PRODUCT (ABC)= D finished product 9 months shelf life ( on the label)

 

Is it all right from from a legal point of view???   DURING shelf life of FINISHED PRODUCT   A ingredients will lost his expiry date?

 

 

WHAT SIMPLE RULES DO YOU USE IN YOUR PRACTICE IN FOOD INDUSTRY?

 

I know that:

 

 - During a factory process we have to use ingredients which are not expired.

 

 - For expiry date of the FINISHED PRODUCT manufacturer is responsible. After storage test , producer  determines shelf life.

 

Have you got an industry experience? Maybe some guide? 

 

 

I encourage to discussion (please use some example from practice).

PLS share what rules do you use when determing the shelf life.

 

 

A conservative guide.

Minimum Rules.

So No.

Hello,

 

There is no scientific literature or studies afaik that you can average out the shelf-life of raw materials and applied it to finished-product. You can mix it but still you have to conduct shelf-life study of the product resulting on that mixing/combination to support your claim.

 

regards,

redfox

Hello,
 
There is no scientific literature or studies afaik that you can average out the shelf-life of raw materials and applied it to finished-product. You can mix it but still you have to conduct shelf-life study of the product resulting on that mixing/combination to support your claim.
 
regards,
redfox

Hi red fox,

Unfortunately data on the product/process is not existing.
I assumed the process is one only of mixing so that the ingredients retain their original identities.
In such case there are various product websites which offer the opinion in post3.
But if the ingredients actually result in a new entity, the answer is IMO self-evident as per yr post.

A conservative guide.

Minimum Rules.

So No.

Hello Charles ,

Could you send me a link to this conservative guide.

 

What do you mean by minimum rules?

Hello Charles ,

Could you send me a link to this conservative guide.

OK will search my archives.

 

What do you mean by minimum rules?

6 months in yr example

 

Hi Lucky,

 

Will revert after ^^^^^^

"Mix all igredients but still you have to conduct shelf-life study of the product resulting on that mixing/combination to support your claim.  This looks like the most logical solutions.

 

Mixing  of raw material we can create a lot of products such as  tea blends, coffee blends, herbs and spices blends, cereals blends.  PLease imagine situation that shelf life of finished products is limted by shelf life raw materials

 

 

If the cereals shelf life is limited by raw materials, please explain me how to produce cereals?

 

For instance cereals or tea blend are made from three ingredients  A - 8 months shelf life
                                                                              B - 6 months shelf life

                                                                              C - 9 months shelf life

According what a "sanitary stations" on the label should be shelf life 6 months according to B ingredients?

 

 

And what if we are using ingredients B 3 months later in production and then it has only 3 months shelf life so our finished product has to have only 3 months shelf life???

 

And what if we are using ingredients B 5 months later in production and then it has only 1 months shelf life so our finished product has to have only 1 months shelf life???

 

What is a solution in real life (in food industry)?  What is a legal practice in this case?

NO. You have to test your finished product already w/o looking back on the shelf life of raw mats. Expiry of raw mat is as "raw mat", not when blended already resulting in a finished product. So in your inventory you have to check if your raw mat is not expired yet before using in your production.  

Hi Lucky,

 

Indeed, yr problems are also experienced in exporting perishable goods long distances to other countries. The consequences are likely to be compromises depending on the product.

Yr OP was perhaps somewhat artificial so that my answer was equally limited. The reality is that shelf lives are not usually fixed points. So (depending on the product) shelf lives of mixtures can be standardised based on user experience with blending the tolerances on shelf lives of individual components. This is a balancing act but also verifiable by storage testing of the resulting mixtures. Mistakes can be costly if the goods are perishable.

 

Regardless, if you have one component which has a much shorter shelf life than the others, life is probably going to be difficult. :smile:

 

PS - the next query is maybe how to define the production date for a mixture ?

Hi Lucky,

 

addendum Post 7

 

These 2 links are "popular" illustrations of the use of the "minimum" logic. i haven't located the more technical ones yet.

 

http://www.eatbydate...xpiration-date/

 

http://modernsurviva...kes-and-breads/

 

In contrast here is an alternative logic where a deliberate ingredient effect does occur - 

 

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