Frozen then defrosted shelf life?
Hi
We produce a certain sausage frozen which is then delivered to our customer's cold store and allowed to defrost. Our customer wants the shelf life on the label to reflect this process - i.e. they want an "on thaw" use by date.
Generally speaking what shelf life can we give? Shelf life tests show that our fresh (not frozen) products can have an 8 day shelf life, so would a thawed sausage have the same shelf life? It would be stored below 5c. Transport is refrigerated and takes up to 5 hours.
I'll be performing the shelf life tests to confirm but was curious if anyone has any speculative thoughts on a shelf life.
Thanks
Alfie
Hi Alfiebru
The shelf life of your product will depend on the the process of defrosting. If the defrosting is done at ambient temperature than thee shelf life would be similar to your other fresh products. However if the defrosting is done above 5 degree than shelf life will be adversely affected as thawing process will be happening above 5 degree, thus there is potential of microbiological contamination will increase.. In such cases 25% decease in shelf life is expected so I will only give 6 days shelf life to defrosted product.
Carrying out an accelerated shelf life study would be an useful validation data to justify the product shelf life.
Hi
We produce a certain sausage frozen which is then delivered to our customer's cold store and allowed to defrost. Our customer wants the shelf life on the label to reflect this process - i.e. they want an "on thaw" use by date.
Generally speaking what shelf life can we give? Shelf life tests show that our fresh (not frozen) products can have an 8 day shelf life, so would a thawed sausage have the same shelf life? It would be stored below 5c. Transport is refrigerated and takes up to 5 hours.
I'll be performing the shelf life tests to confirm but was curious if anyone has any speculative thoughts on a shelf life.
Thanks
Alfie
You are surely not responsible for yr customer (maybe) mishandling the product after reception. The query is IMO potentially a "trap".
We use the customer's label for this product which is why they want a defrost shelf life as that is the label which the end user sees.
We use the customer's label for this product which is why they want a defrost shelf life as that is the label which the end user sees.
Seems they want you to do their work for them then! :giggle:
But in all seriousness....you would be best doing a challenge test as another poster indicated.
Lots of variables that you would need to understand,.... bulk / density of product when freezing / thawing (data logger in the middle will help) - transport? - bulk /density of product when thawing - temperature and stability of temperature when thawing (data logger will help here too). Be cautious that you don;t end up painting yourself into a corner in regards to setting shelf lives that they might potentially later try and claim non-conformance on but you don't actually have control over the process..... :/
Hi
We produce a certain sausage frozen which is then delivered to our customer's cold store and allowed to defrost. Our customer wants the shelf life on the label to reflect this process - i.e. they want an "on thaw" use by date.
Generally speaking what shelf life can we give? Shelf life tests show that our fresh (not frozen) products can have an 8 day shelf life, so would a thawed sausage have the same shelf life? It would be stored below 5c. Transport is refrigerated and takes up to 5 hours.
I'll be performing the shelf life tests to confirm but was curious if anyone has any speculative thoughts on a shelf life.
Thanks
Alfie
My starting point would be the fresh life so if it's 8 days from manufacture and you freeze on day of manufacture, I'd give it 8 days once it exceeds about -2oC (for Listeria growth). If it's frozen on day 1, give it 7 days etc. Your proposal to trial it sounds like the right one as my approach could be too cautious.
Remember though to test for a wide suite of micro, coliforms will be reduced by freezing and eventually killed. Some pathogens survive a treat and then have less competition.
My starting point would be the fresh life so if it's 8 days from manufacture and you freeze on day of manufacture, I'd give it 8 days once it exceeds about -2oC (for Listeria growth). If it's frozen on day 1, give it 7 days etc. Your proposal to trial it sounds like the right one as my approach could be too cautious.
Remember though to test for a wide suite of micro, coliforms will be reduced by freezing and eventually killed. Some pathogens survive a treat and then have less competition.
My starting point would be the fresh life so if it's 8 days from manufacture and you freeze on day of manufacture, I'd give it 8 days once it exceeds about -2oC (for Listeria growth). If it's frozen on day 1, give it 7 days etc. Your proposal to trial it sounds like the right one as my approach could be too cautious.
Remember though to test for a wide suite of micro, coliforms will be reduced by freezing and eventually killed. Some pathogens survive a treat and then have less competition.
do you have any reference shelf life of product after defrosting frozen food (note defrosting under 5c)
do you have any reference shelf life of product after defrosting frozen food (note defrosting under 5c)
See -