STEP 5. Determine the shelf life
Eventually a point is reached when the product no longer meets the quality standard. Using all the
information you have recorded and observed, decide how long the product can be kept and still be
of an acceptable quality and safety. Maximum storage times for quality and safety may not be the
same. The shelf life of a product should be which ever is shortest.
Look at the test results and if any of them don’t make sense, repeat them. If the results still don’t
make sense or are variable, check that the ingredients, their quality and the processing are the same
for all batches. Determine what is causing the variability; fix it, then repeat the sampling and tests.