Chapter V

Establishing Open Dates

In order to establish a fairly accurate open date (except a pack date) for a
particular food, one needs to know how that food deteriorates. All foods begin to
deteriorate at some speed (rate) as soon as they are packaged and continue to
deteriorate until they may no longer be acceptable. Some foods deteriorate rela-
tively quickly and others very slowly.
Food shelf life is not totally dependent on time but also on environmental
conditions such as temperature, humidity, light, and oxygen. The prime fac-
tors—temperature and humidity-may increase deterioration as they rise, or
slow the process as they become lower. However, their impact depends on how
widely they vary and on the product itself. Also, as the food deteriorates, the
process may accelerate because of its own momentum.
Examples of possible modes of deterioration, the most critical environmen-
tal factors; and the most feasible open date for some perishable, semiperishable,
and long shelf-life foods are listed in table 5. The primary mode, if known for
normal conditions, is in bold italic type. How foods deteriorate may change radi-
cally with sterilization procedures, packaging, condition of raw material, etc.
As can be seen in table 5, in no case is safety a concern in any of the normal
deteriorations of food. In cases of certain meats or poultry, foodborne infections
that might be disseminated by the product could make the question of safety
more relevant than for other foods. However, for most food, other factors that
result in an inedible product occur before a point of health hazard is reached if
the product has been properly processed, packaged, and not abused or contami-
nated.

Most perishable and semiperishable foods may fall below some accepted standard be-
degradate mainly on sensory quality criteria. fore sensory quality becomes inadequate. In
For example, fresh meat degrades mainly by addition, most long shelf-life foods are pack-
bacterial activity and oxidation that cause an aged so that it is impossible to examine the
off-flavor development and loss of color. This contents. Consumers cannot recognize loss of
is readily recognizable by consumers. sensory quality until the product is unpack-
aged after purchase. Open shelf-life dating is,
therefore, as applicable to long shelf-life
In contrast, many long shelf-life foods deg- foods as it is to perishable and semiperish-
radate mainly on nutritional criteria. For ex- able foods, particularly if these foods are
ample, frozen fruits and vegetables are con- stored in the distribution system or home for
sumed as a major dietary source of vitamins a fairly long period of time. Some type of date
and minerals. In some cases, vitamin content is useful to ensure proper rotation and give

31
32 ● Open She/f-Life Dating of Food

Table 5.—Major Modes of Deterioration, Critical Environmental Factors, Shelf Life, and
Type of Open Dating by Food Product
—— — . —
Date most
Shelf life suitable for Additional
Food product factors (average) product information —-
Perishables
Fluid milk bacterial growth, oxygen, 7-14 days at sell-by length of time
and products oxidized flavor, temperature refrigerated product can be
hydrolytic rancidity temperature stored at home
Fresh bakery staling, microbial oxygen, 2 days (bread) sell-by
products growth, moisture temperature, 7 days (cake)
loss causing moisture
hardening, oxidative
rancidity
Fresh red bacterial activity, oxygen, 3-4 days at pack or
meat oxidation temperature, refrigerated sell-by a
light temperature
Fresh poultry pathogen growth, oxygen, 2-7 days at sell-by a length of time
microbial decay temperature, refrigerated product can be
light temperature stored in home
either frozen
or refrigerated
Fresh fish bacterial growth temperature 14 days when pack
stored on ice (catch date)a
(marine fish)
Fresh fruits microbial decay, temperature, (b) pack a
and vegetables nutrient loss, light, oxygen,
wilting, bruising relative humidity,
soil & water,
physical handling
Semiperishables and perishables
Fried snack rancidity, loss of oxygen, light, 4-6 weeks sell-by or home storage
foods crispness temperature, best-if- information such
moisture used-by as “store in a
cool, dry place”
Cheese rancidity, browning, temperature processed best-if-
lactose crystalliza- cheese used-by
tion 4-24 months;
natural cheese
4-12 months
Ice cream graininess caused by fluctuating 1-4 months sell-by or recommended
lactose crystallize. temperature best-if- home storage
tion, loss of solubil- (below freezing) used-by temperature
ization (caking),
Iysine loss
Long shelf-life foods
Dehydrated browning, rancidity, moisture, dehydrated vege- sell-by or estimate
foods loss of pigment, temperature, tables 3-15 best-if- of shelf
loss of texture, light, months; dehy- used-by life beyond
loss of nutrients oxygen drated meat 1-6 sell-by date;
months; dried store in cool,
fruit 1-24 months dry place
Nonfat flavor deterioration, moisture, 12 months best-if-
dry milk loss of solubilization temperature used-by
(caking), Iysine loss
 Chapter V—Establishing Open Dates ● 33

Table 5.— Major Modes of Deterioration, Critical Environmental Factors, Shelf Life, and
Type of Open Dating by Food Product—Continued
—
Mode of deteriorate ion Critical Date-most
(assuming an environmental Shelf life suitable for Additional
Food product intact package) factors (average) product information

Breakfast rancidity, loss of moisture, 6-18 months best-if- recommended

cereals crispness, vitamin temperature, used-by storage
loss, particle rough handling or sell-by conditions
breakage
Pasta texture changes, too high or low pasta with egg best-if-
staling, vitamin moisture, solids 9-36 used-by
and protein loss temperature months; macaroni
and spaghetti
24-48 months
Frozen loss of turbidity temperature 18-30 months sell-by or month of high
concentrated or cloudiness, yeast best-if- quality left in
juices growth, loss of used-by home storage
vitamins, loss of color
or flavor
Frozen fruits loss of nutrients; loss temperature 6-24 months best-if- recommended
and vegetables of texture, f/aver, used-by storage
color: and formation conditions
of package ice
Frozen meats, rancidity, protein temperature beef 6-12 months best-if- recommended
poultry, and denaturation, color veal 4-14 months used-by storage
fish change, desiccation pork 4-12 months conditions
fish 2-8 months
lamb 6-16 months
Frozen rancidity i n meat oxygen, 6-12 months best-if- recommended
convenience port ions, weeping temperature used-by storage
foods and curdling of conditions
sauces, loss of
flavor, loss of
color
Canned loss of flavor, temperature 12-36 months best-if-
fruits and texture, color, used-by
vegetables nutrients
Coffee rancidity, loss oxygen ground, roasted, best-if-
of flavor and odor vacuum-packed, used-by
9 months;
instant coffee
18-36 months
Tea loss of flavor moisture 18 months best-if-
absorption used-by
of foreign odors

-.
aThls date applres only If the product IS packaged prior to sale If unpacked or sold In bulk prior to sale this product IS exempt from an open date
bDepend~ on the spec(f(c commodity Sweet corn has a shelf life of 4 to 8 days and apples range from 3 to 8 months at ProPer temperature For this sPeclf(c ‘ o
n f rma

!Ion see Theodore Labuza et al Open Shelf Dattng of Foods. Dept of Food Science and Nutrltlon Unlverslty of Minnesota report prepared for the Office of Tech
nology Assessment 1978
NOTE When known the pr)mary mode of deterioration IS In bold (tal!c type
34 ● Open Shelf-Life Dating of Food

the consumer an index of when foods should Thus, the potential for consumer abuse may
be used. be too great for a best-if-used-by date to be a
practical alternative.
Since the mode of deterioration and criti-
cal environmental factors determine the shelf In general, the most suitable date for long
life of a product, they should be considered in shelf-life foods is the best-if-used-by date. For
selecting the type of open date. In general, for example, with canned fruits and vegetables,
perishable products, the most feasible date is the date of pack would be the easiest to imple-
the pack or sell-by date. For example, almost ment but would not tell the consumer any-
all fresh red meat is packaged by the retailer thing about the shelf life of the product. Can-
who deals directly with the public. The meat ners who pack seasonal crops would be in a
may have been slaughtered from 1 day to 2 difficult position because the date on the cans
weeks previously. Since carcasses of proper- would seem old when the product is actually
ly handled beef are essentially sterile inter- still well within the shelf life of the product.
nally, it is the packaging procedure that initi- This would be especially true in years when
ates color change and bacterial spoilage. Be- an overabundant crop would force the can-
cause the shelf life of fresh meat is relatively ner to sell some products the following year.
short beyond the date of packaging, a pack
A sell-by date is not applicable to cans that
date or sell-by date may be sufficient for con-
are often stored in the home for some long
sumer use and understanding.
period of time after being sold. The best-if-
A best-if-used-by date would also be useful used-by date could be useful to consumers
to the consumer for fresh meat and other per- because it would give an appreciation of the
ishable products. However, these products shelf life of the product if conditions of stor-
are very sensitive to temperature changes, age were known or uniform. (For a detailed
which can result in very rapid deterioration. discussion by product, see appendix A.)

ALTERNATIVE CRITERIA
The general criteria to establish a sell-by regulatory sense to determine whether a spe-
or best-if-used-by date will depend on what cific food was in or out of compliance at a cer-
the date is meant to imply. A sell-by date tain date unless the regulators were trained
should mean that there is still high-quality life for each product. What is needed in this
left for some time period of home storage sense is a chemical or physical index that
under reasonable conditions. A best-if-used- changes in a similar manner to the sensory
by date further states this by projecting a changes.
reasonable time period. It is not possible to
set an exact end to shelf life (a definite use-by
date) for any food product.
Such criteria would have to be based on
Sensory Quality
what degree of change caused by each of the
deteriorative reactions in table 5 would lead Although more difficult to measure in cer-
to a “significant” loss in high quality. This tain cases, sensory quality is the most impor-
would apply to rancidity, flavor loss, brown- tant characteristic for consumers and proc-
ing, textural change, etc. Such tests for sen- essors alike, and in some cases with foods of
sory quality (taste panels, preference tests, long shelf life, this quality may also be an in-
etc.), although well-developed and used in dicator of nutrient quality. This is not true for
product testing, would be difficult to use in a shorter shelf-life foods such as milk.
 Chapter V—Establishing Open Dates ● 35

Manufacturers define their o w n q u a l i t y rapid, and scientifically sound methods of

standards through elaborate product devel- analysis for some foods. However, open
opment studies, many of which include sen- dating based on retention time within the
sory testing, when they put a brand name on grade can be applied only to those few hun-
a product with a best-if-used-by date. In this dred items for which generally recognized
way, they assume quality loss up to that point and approved grades already exist. These
is still acceptable enough that the consumer items are those for which grade levels can be
will buy the product. If consumers buy the measured accurately and precisely.
product and find it below their own quality
standards, they will probably not buy the
product again.
Nutrient Loss
Consumer reaction, then, is the key to qual-
ity standards, because Government regula- Another measure of shelf life could be the
tory agencies would not have available the loss of a certain percentage of a critical
needed methods to determine whether a given nutrient, such as vitamin C. This factor would
food that is still in date is out of compliance be much easier to measure than overall quali-
with some quality standard. For example, if ty, since it can be analyzed accurately and
an inspector picked up a can of soup and took rapidly in the laboratory. The same would be
it back to the laboratory, he might not have true for moisture gain or loss of a critical
the scientific tests available which could de- value that would cause some textural change,
termine with any degree of accuracy if that such as loss of crispness of a potato chip.
soup is of a designated quality and therefore
acceptable to the consumer. However, many scientists favor a specific
Assuring compliance with sensory quality sensory quality criteria for each type of food
might be feasible if the sell-by or best-if-used- rather than a given percentage loss of an
by date were coupled with official Govern- unstable or critical nutrient for all commod-
ment or widely accepted industry quality ities. Nutrient content of even the same foods
grades. Thus, instead of merely stating “use- can be quite variable, particularly the vita-
by” or “best-if-used-by” when there is no de- min content of many raw agricultural com-
fined “best” quality, the open date could be modities, For example, two tomatoes picked
preceded by a statement such as “to remain at the same time can vary significantly in
in grade, use by. ” vitamin C content. More importantly, some
foods are naturally poor in some nutrients,
The addition of an open date to a grade are not eaten to provide those nutrients, and
declaration would automatically solve the ex- may be of good quality even if they have lost a
isting serious problem of unlimited guarantee certain percentage of the nutrients. In other
of a specified quality grade level from the words, if a food only contains 1 percent of the
time the grade is marked on the container un- U.S. recommended daily allowance of vitamin
til its destruction. The more perishable the C, a 10-percent decrease in this low amount
product, the more important would be the would most likely have an insignificant effect
grade/open-date combination, While canned on overall nutritional status of the consumer.
green beans could well remain in grade for a
year or longer provided the container is un-
If nutrient loss is to be used as one index of
damaged and not exposed for long periods to
quality loss, foods would have to be examined
high and/or fluctuating temperatures, fresh
on a product-by-product basis. In essence,
green beans could go out of grade in just a
few weeks, or even days, this has already been done for nutrition label-
ing. However, to prove that a loss in nutrients
Open dating, when coupled with quality is of significance to overall quality of each
grade levels, can be based on accurate, and every commodity would be difficult.
36 ● Open Shelf-Life Dating of Food

Perishability Time Categories food category that can be defined as foods

Some States with open-dating require- with a shelf life of greater than 6 months. As
ments use perishability time categories to es- pointed out earlier in this report, this is, in
tablish an open date. The three general cate- fact, a scientific misnomer, for all foods
gories are: perishable, semiperishable, and decay at some rate by some means. Even in
nonperishable. Time categories can be rele- the above example with potato chips, if the
vant for highly perishable foods that have a new method of packaging gave an average
minimum of processing such as fresh meat or shelf life of 120 days but the product was
milk. However, processing conditions and abused in distribution and held at high tem-
types of packaging can increase the shelf life peratures (38 0 C) for a few days, it could de-
of semiperishable and long shelf-life foods to teriorate fast enough that it would no longer
the point where such perishability time cate- meet the criteria of nonperishability. There-
gories are not meaningful unless continuously fore, perishability terminology cannot be logi-
modified to reflect new circumstances. For cally backed-up scientifically since one can
example, semiperishable foods can be de- control or change shelf life through varying
fined as those foods with a shelf life of processing, packaging, and environmental
greater than 7 days but less than 90. Under conditions.
this system, in general temperature and envi-
Basing open dating on time categories
ronmental conditions, most potato chips
could also be a hindrance to implementing
would be defined as semiperishable. How-
new technology. For example, better packag-
ever, if they were packed in a foil pouch
ing can increase shelf life of potato chips
under nitrogen with added antioxidants, the
from 90 to 120 days, even in regions with high
chips might last for up to 6 months and would
humidity. However, this better packaging
not fit the category.
would not be used if potato chips could not be
Some States have met this problem by de- sold at full price after 90 days no matter what
veloping a nonperishable or long shelf-life their quality may be.

SCIENTIFIC TESTS AND DATA NEEDED

To develop sell-by or best-if-used-by dates samples at regular time ntervals to establish

scientifically, each manufacturer would need the appropriate date for the product. But for
to conduct shelf-stability studies on each products with several years shelf life, such as
product and determine the point in time at canned vegetables, these studies could take
which sensory quality falls below the point of as long as 3 to 4 years.
consumer acceptance. This is very time-con- The other alternative for the manufacturer
suming and difficult to determine unless the
is accelerated shelf-life tests (ASLT). These
food has a short life under constant normal tests would be necessary for new-product de-
environmental conditions.
velopment and could be advantageously used
Knowledge of temperature and humidity for existing products where shelf life under
conditions encountered during distribution normal marketplace conditions is very long.
are necessary to set the sell-by or best-if- ASLT involves subjecting the product to two
used-by dates. A manufacturer can deter- or three given constant environmental condi-
mine this in one of two ways. He can put a tions and measuring the rate of quality loss at
product out in the marketplace, pick up each condition. A mathematical formula can
samples at various times and places in the then be established for the rate of deteriora-
marketing channel, and test the quality of the tion as a function of temperature and/or
 Chapter V—Establishing Open Dates ● 37

humidity and used to predict the time needed turers would probably consider these data to
to reach an unacceptable amount of change be of a proprietary nature and would not
during distribution and storage. 1 release it to the Federal Government or the
In a select sample of 50 food manufac- scientific literature. Another impact would
turers, OTA found that the scientific ap- be that the wholesalers, distributors, food
proach described in this section and in the brokers, and retailers would need to supply
background report is frequently not utilized information on each product’s history, as re-
except by major corporations with highly gards time, temperature, and humidity condi-
qualified scientific personnel. The low use of tions encountered along the way to final sale.
shelf-life testing results from lack of knowl- Since shelf-life testing is product-specific,
edge and, more importantly, lack of experi- it would be very expensive for the Federal
ence in determining the shelf life of estab- Government to undertake these types of tests
lished foods as well as the costs involved. 2 for all food products. The Government could,
The major impact of developing scientific however:
data would fall on the food manufacturer. A 1. Support research into modeling shelf-life
significant amount of time and money must be studies for various reactions leading to
used to establish a data base for each prod- loss of quality under variable time/tem-
uct because broad generalizations cannot perature/humidity conditions.
suffice, Because of the cost, most manufac- 2. Support or conduct research into devel-
opment of reasonable cost devices that
‘Theodore Labuza et al., “Open Shelf-Life Dating of could be attached to food packages
Foods, ” Department of Food Science and Nutrition,
University of Minnesota, report prepared for the Office which could detect the impact of time,
of Technology Assessment, 1978. temperature, and humidity on shelf life
‘Ibid. of an individual food.

IMPACT ON TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

An open-dating system based on perish- additives used simply to extend shelf life.
ability time categories with a sell-by date, Also, consumer distrust may be a reason why
such as many States have now adopted, can UHT (ultra-high temperature) milk has not
inhibit efforts to improve processing technol- been widely accepted in the United States.
ogy, packaging methodology, and a distribu- Because of improved sterilization techniques,
tion system that would extend the shelf life of this milk can remain shelf-stable for at least 6
many foods. This is because there is no bene- months at room temperature.
fit gained in improving a food if it cannot be
sold at full price beyond a certain date after Another pitfall to consider is that too much
manufacture. However, if manufacturers are emphasis in product development may be put
allowed to use the best-if-used-by date on a simply on extending shelf life and thus de-
voluntary basis that they feel is reasonable, crease efforts to develop a wide variety of
the incentive to do research to extend the other interesting and convenient foods that
date may be greater than it is now. are enjoyable but which may not have an ex-
tremely long shelf life. It is impossible, how-
From the consumer’s viewpoint, however, ever, to project such an impact at this time.
extending the date may be a processor’s at-
tempt to make old foods taste and look good, At present, theoretically accurate and reli-
at the risk of some additives. Many consum- able shelf-life indicators for some types of
ers today are extremely distrustful of food food products exist that could measure the
38 ● Open Shelf -Life Dating of Food

reaction rate of food to both temperature and without distortion as the label is applied
moisture. However, these indicators are not could be the answer. It is currently used for
technologically or economically feasible for bottle labels.
individual consumer-size packages.
The other major issue is in the area of
If such indicators were in widespread use,
quality standards. With the exception of the
food companies buying commodities or ingre-
commodities for which there are now quality
dients from other food companies could in-
grades and standards, no specific guidelines
clude a value on the indicator as part of their
exist for thousands of new, fabricated, and
specification for the ordered food. Some Gov-
processed foods. However, the vast sources
ernment contracts currently mandate use of
of existing knowledge on which Government
shelf-life indicators in shipping frozen food
and industry quality grades are based could
cases. The use of indicators could well be ex-
be tapped.
tended to other cases or pallets of food. How-
ever, the indicators may never become inex- If a best-if-used-by or sell-by dating system
pensive enough to warrant their use on indi-
were imposed, research by Government, uni-
vidual consumer packages, They would prob-
versities, and industry laboratories would be
ably cost at least as much as the package
stimulated. They would most likely center on:
itself.
Open dating could have a real impact on la- 1 . shelf-life indicators,
beling technology. There would be increased 2. modes of deteriorations and quality indi-
incentive to develop quick-drying inks and cators,
ways of printing on difficult surfaces, espe- 3. prediction of packaging requirements,
cially at high speed. At present, it is not possi- and
ble to do this, and the materials are not avail- 4. more precise and objective methodology
able, according to the industry. New unidirec- for measuring changes in sensory quali-
tional shrink-film that can be preprinted ty attributes.