Storage and Shelf Life

These apparently mundane and pedestrian topics have grown in world economic importance recently, and such currently fashionable words and phrases as conservation, total world supplies, waste prevention, must now be involved under these headings. Good storage conditions are probably more involved with temperature than any other single physical factor. The correct temperature can lie anywhere between -40 and +40 degrees C, depending on the food and 'life' expectancy. In the past, the food industry did not always give proper priority to the provision of good storage facilities. This attitude has latterly changed as the community and the industry have become aware of the benefits. Shelf life is the activity by which the food technologist ensures that the product reaches the consumer in the best possible condition. It is properly determined by experiment, taking into account conditions of storage, transport, packaging, microbiological and biochemical deterioration. Shelf-life information must be communicated to distributor, retailer and consumer in a meaningful and uncomplicated manner. The next decade will see greater effort and expenditure put into understanding and exploiting the better storage and freshness of food to the advantage of the community.