Accelerated and parallel storage in shelf life studies

We take for granted that all foods, regardless of their kind, must be always attractive and safe to eat. This is so obvious that we hardly give it a second thought. Yet, defi ning “attractiveness” is not a simple matter. This is especially true because the time can vary substantially between when a food is bought and when it is actually consumed. The same can be said about pet foods and animal feed. The establishment of quality and safety criteria, therefore, is one of the major concerns in food products development. Moreover, all foods, even when properly packaged, undergo biochemical, physical, and other changes that can affect their quality and safety. The rate at which these changes occur is infl uenced by the product’s characteristics and the conditions under which it is produced, handled, and stored. In many cases, however, most conditions are beyond the manufacturer’s control, which raises a responsibility issue and the need to defi ne what “normal handling” and “abuse” are. The term “food” itself covers a wide range of agricultural and industrial products. Except for being eaten, directly or by being admixed with other edible products, they can have little in common. A fresh bell pepper, a ripening banana, a chocolate bar, canned tuna, bottled apple juice, frozen shrimps, ice cream, yogurt, breakfast cereal, powdered garlic, and hard candy differ in almost every aspect: from composition, chemistry, physical state, and packaging requirements to how long they can be stored and under what conditions. For making each a successful product, it is imperative to know and understand its chemistry, biology, and physics-there is no way around it. Intimate familiarity with the product, and how it is manufactured, packaged, transported, stored, and consumed, is the fi rst requirement for its development or improvement. Yet, there are general guidelines that, when followed by the developer, will greatly increase the probability of a high-quality product, and its success in the marketplace. Recently, the concept of total food quality has been introduced in order to account for the multitude of properties that determine a food product’s sensory attributes, safety, nutritional value and wholesomeness, functionality, and stability.1 It deals with the physical, chemical, biological, and physiological aspects of food consumption as well as the psychological aspects that affect it.