Predicting shelf life is a problem and a challenge, says Juan L. Silva ([email protected]), Professor, Dept. of Food Science, Nutrition, and Health Promotion, Mississippi State University, Starkville. He defi nes shelf life as the time during which a food product stays at its optimum quality and is still safe to eat.
“But the biggest problem is to defi ne exactly the parameters that govern shelf life, such as microbiological, physiological, enzymatic, or oxidative activities, and th…