Guidance for food businesses for the setting of product shelf-life has been published by Food Standards Scotland.
The purpose of the document is to help food businesses comply with the requirements of Regulation (EC) 2073/2005 that the food safety criteria applicable throughout the shelf-life of the product can be met under reasonably foreseeable conditions of distribution, storage and use.
It aims to outline good practice in determining and verifying the shelf-life of a food product to support FBOs, and to also help authorised food officers carry out their duties to enforce this regulation. It also provides theoretical examples of the use of experimental studies in shelf-life setting.
While the overarching responsibility for food safety rests with Food Business Operators, this documents contains a comprehensive lists of factors and considerations applicable to shelf-life determination (validation) and verification in order to assist businesses in complying with the legal requirements, that the food safety criteria applicable throughout the shelf-life can be met under reasonably foreseeable conditions of distribution, storage and use.
