According to GB 7718-2011 National Food Safety Standard General Standard for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods (hereinafter referred to as GB 7718-2011), shelf life means the date which signifies the end of the period under any stated storage conditions on the label of the prepackaged food during which the quality of the product will be maintained. In other words, the shelf life means that the appearance, color, taste, taste, safety and other qualities of the food will not change significantly within a limited period of time. The shelf life is available only for prepackaged foods, not for unpackaged foods.
China Food Industry Association issued the group standard General Guideline for Shelf Life of Food, which specifies the general requirements for shelf life and how to determine the shelf life. To determine the shelf life of a product, it is necessary to go through six steps: stability test program to determine the shelf life of food, design the test method, implement the program, analyze the results, determine the shelf life and verify the shelf life. In addition, other risk factors affecting food safety need to be taken into account, such as microbial risks at different storage temperatures.
In daily life, some prepackaged foods may be legally not marked shelf life. According to GB 7718-2011, alcoholic beverage in which the alcohol content is 10% or over, vinegar, salt, sugar in solid form (including white granulated sugar, white sugar, brown sugar and crystal sugar, excluding candy) and monosodium glutamate can be exempted from marking the shelf life.
The exemption from marking shelf life does not mean that there is no shelf life, but that labeling is not mandatory. The main reason is that these foods are stable under storage conditions, and microorganisms are difficult to reproduce. Under normal circumstances, the time of whole process from the production of the product to the end of consumer consumption, is far less than the shelf life of the product, so the regulation do not mandate the labeling of shelf life.
Source: China Consumer News
Note: This article is compiled by Antion. Please indicate the source for reprint.