Falafel Preservation & Shelf-life - Commercial, Not Food Service

Hi everyone,

I have a customer looking at making packaged, cooked falafel for retail sale to grocery chains to put onto refrigerated shelves for take home reheat and eat.

I don't have solid information in what they will have available for processing equipment, specifically if they will have any packaging capability beyond a simple wrapped or sealed tray (as in would MAP be an advantage or required for any significant shelf-life?).

While hummus has quite a lot of information, I can't find anything on falafel processing, HACCP information, or shelf-life considerations, beyond reference to restaurant or home use, a couple papers on cooked nutrition, and a paper on cellulose ingredients to reduce oil pickup.

Would anyone be willing to share any information or suggestions on falafel processing, or even more specifically what sort of shelf-life prior to microbial spoilage is normal? What can we suggest or utilize to extend shelf-life as much as possible for them, such as use of preservatives, in order to give them realistic expectations in setting or meeting retail customer shelf-life requirements?

Any help is appreciated.

hi

in my opinion Falafel wont be tasty, crispy, and delicious unless if eaten fresh... so why doesnt he think of selling it as chilled Falafel mixture (semi processed) and the customers can buy it, cooking it at home and ofcourse cooking instructions should be mentioned in the packaging.

advantages of selling Falafel mixture as chilled:

1- customer will enjoy the freshness of the falafel.

2- Longer Shelf life for sure

3- buy and keep in refrigerator

4- reduce waste loss if it gets expired on shelf (in case of selling as cooked)

i hope you get benefit of my idea...

regards.