Short or long shelf-life?
All products change more or less from the
date of manufacture to their expiry date.
Diff erent processing and packaging technologies
result in diff erent product protection
and shelf-lives, so that certain products must
be stored refrigerated while others can be
stored at ambient temperature. An ambient
juice product is heat-treated and fi lled in a
sterile package, in a so-called aseptic process.
It may seem simple, but the microbiological
and technical processes are complicated. High
competence and long experience are required
to be able to guarantee a commercially sterile
production chain, which means the product
must not deteriorate during storage, and
must not contain micro-organisms or toxins
that pose a threat to consumer health, or
which can multiply during storage. Consequently,
there is no microbial activity in
aseptically processed products, and it is the
package's oxygen and aroma barrier that
determines the shelf-life. This barrier must
prevent oxygen from penetrating into the
package, and the smell and fl avour of the
product from migrating out of the package.
For chilled products, micro-organisms are
the limiting factor for shelf-life. The length
of time is determined by heat treatment, the
hygienic status of the packaging system and
the storage temperature of the packaged
products (2-10°C). The longer the shelf-life
desired, the more important the packaging.
Juice being cold-stored is not usually packaged
aseptically.