Shelf stable products are stored at ambient (typ
ically 70°F) and one or more abusive temperature
conditions. Abusive temperatures accelerate change
s that may occur in a prod
uct as it ages. There
is not an exact or universal acceleration factor
that can be used to ca
lculate how time at one
temperature directly translates to
time at another temperature.
Extensive testing and mathematical
modeling, described below in the Predictive Mode
ling section, can be us
ed to determine such
factors. For most shelf life testing, accelerated
temperatures are useful to gain an early read on
product deterioration and serve as a disaster chec
k to determine what may
happen to a product as
it ages. Care must be taken to choose storage te
mperatures that will not trigger reactions that
would not normally occur in the product.