Food shelf life testing
Shelf life testing helps establish the longevity of the product before spoilage. Food samples are stored over a non-accelerated time-period and tested at pre-established time points based on the product ingredients. Our highly trained staff conducts microbiology tests that include standard spoilage organisms. Our Microbiology team will work with you to develop a scientifically sound sampling and testing protocol.
Microbiology challenge studies
Microbiological challenge studies are useful for determining the ability of a food to support the growth of spoilage organisms or pathogens relevant to foods that need time/temperature control for safety. Microbiological challenge studies play an important role in the validation of processes that are intended to deliver some degree of lethality against a target organism or group of target organisms. Quite often, with this latter purpose, there is an associated performance standard that the process must deliver (for example, a 5-log reduction of E. coli O157:H7 for fermented meats). AFL offers long-term sample storage and a formal report for interpretive results as requested.