Do you offer accelerated shelf-life trials?
At ALcontrol we don't offer accelerated shelf life. The problem that many enquirers don’t realise is that, to start with, we would need to run the accelerated shelf life alongside a standard shelf life trial on the same product in order to calibrate it (otherwise how do you know what point on the accelerated shelf life represents the end of life on a standard one). Therefore, it is not a quick fix until data is established.
Some types of product could probably be attempted with a bit of planning, but it needs to be a product in which there is some factor we can alter to cause the acceleration. Usually this would be the temperature e.g. a chilled food could be incubated at 25º or 30º, but we would hesitate to have great reliance placed on the results. Spoilage will depend on the flora present and their preferred growth conditions, different organisms will grow better at different temperatures, so changing the temperature could change the balance of the dominant organisms. In some cases, spoilage may not progress in the same way under chill conditions as under warm conditions. It may be possible to do for something with a well understood and predictable spoilage pattern, such as items that are virtually sterile, or boxes of fruit juice.
If a reliable accelerated shelf life is successfully set up, then in future products can be tested using that data and the results can be used. However, the accelerated shelf life will only be appropriate for the product tested and if it is re-formulated this may change. Also, one accelerated shelf life result on a particular product may or may not stand true for similar products.
Frozen products present a different problem. Whilst frozen, the bacterial numbers will not increase and may well die off. Actual spoilage is more likely to be physical in nature due to migration of fluid or “freezer burn”. Microbiological deterioration will only set in once the product is defrosted.