Sciantec launches new shelf life analysis services

Sciantec has added shelf life analysis to its list of expert services. The tests help animal feed and commodities manufacturers in the aquaculture, equine, farming, zoo, pet, and specialist animal feed sectors maintain compliance with relevant industry guidelines and meet animal welfare standards.

‘Putting accurate shelf life dates on packaging means the customer can be certain that the quality of the food is the same from the day the pack is opened until the last morsel is consumed,’ said Rachel Rawson, Business Development Executive at Sciantec. ‘This makes animals happy, healthy and thriving. It also minimises the risk of customer complaints, or even legal action due to products becoming unpleasant or unsafe. So, finding a balance between selecting a shorter shelf life, which can result in throwing away products earlier than needed, or a longer shelf life, which can lead to disappointed customers, is key. Our specialist, reliable service helps manufacturers reduce wastage and build customer satisfaction.’

The service tests the safety and quality of all kinds of feeds and raw materials and the deterioration of their quality over time. This includes tracking the development of dangerous bacteria in specified conditions. Storage options include a range of temperature and relative humidity conditions, study duration, and analyses. The durability and sustainability of packaging products can also be tracked using photography to see how they behave over time and in specified conditions.

‘With more environmentally-conscious consumers than ever before, we are seeing a lot more requests to record changes to different types of packaging,’ continued Rachel. ‘This has been useful in helping manufacturers meet their customers’ constantly evolving demands. We look at the appearance of features like bags, glues, seals, and printing media to see how packaging behaves over time, which in turn could affect its contents. Supporting the use of greener packaging also helps us align with Cawood’s mission to support a safer, healthier planet.’

Sciantec’s shelf life package includes a 1-1 consultation and bespoke design to suit analysis parameters for full visibility throughout the study. A Certificate of Analysis is provided at every time point as well as a comprehensive final report.

Quality indicator tests are also available to check the quality of a product by observing its deterioration in certain conditions. Tests include:

• Quality Indicator Tests
• Pepsin digestible protein
• Anisidine value, peroxide value, or TOTOX
• Biogenic amines
• Free fatty acids
• Impurities in oil
• Starch gelatinisation
• Water activity

For more details, read part 1 of Rachel’s blog on shelf life here.