Shelf Life requirements in ISO 22000

[tsmith7858]

We were recently audited for ISO 22000.2005 and there is one finding that is bothering me and I wanted the independent views of the wise auditors found at the cove!

The finding was against clause 7.3.3.2 Characteristics of End Products

The characteristics of the end products shall be described in documents to the extent needed to conduct the hazard analysis (see 7.4), including information on the following, as appropriate:

d) intended shelf life and storage conditions

Finding was:

Shelf life is included on the labels of each product, however, shelf life studies were not available to demonstrate that product meets such intended shelf life

Facts as I can provide them:

• Our HACCP plan indicates shelf life per customer
• We are a co-manufacturer for several companies as well as produce our own product line
• We do not put a shelf life on any of our products as there is no food safety risk, at worst flavor will be lost or product will be stale
• Some of our customers request that a date be placed, it is not a "Use by" but instead more of a freshness date
• We do not require them to provide us with the data used to make their decision on a date (again, no food safety risk, only flavor)
• There is no guidelines for our product requiring shelf life or dates

Question:

1. Is this a legitimate finding against a food safety standard?

[Al Rosen]

Originally Posted by tsmith7858

We were recently audited for ISO 22000.2005 and there is one finding that is bothering me and I wanted the independent views of the wise auditors found at the cove!

The finding was against clause 7.3.3.2 Characteristics of End Products

The characteristics of the end products shall be described in documents to the extent needed to conduct the hazard analysis (see 7.4), including information on the following, as appropriate:

d) intended shelf life and storage conditions

Finding was:

Shelf life is included on the labels of each product, however, shelf life studies were not available to demonstrate that product meets such intended shelf life

Facts as I can provide them:

• Our HACCP plan indicates shelf life per customer
• We are a co-manufacturer for several companies as well as produce our own product line
• We do not put a shelf life on any of our products as there is no food safety risk, at worst flavor will be lost or product will be stale
• Some of our customers request that a date be placed, it is not a "Use by" but instead more of a freshness date
• We do not require them to provide us with the data used to make their decision on a date (again, no food safety risk, only flavor)
• There is no guidelines for our product requiring shelf life or dates

Question:

1. Is this a legitimate finding against a food safety standard?

IMO, you should use some means to validate the shelf life or freshness life. My gut says that eventually microbes, harmful or otherwise, build up and spoil the food.