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The determination of the shelf-life (SL) of food products represents a major issue for industrials as for consumers, particularly for highly perishable products such as processed poultry products. A multi-criteria approach was developed in order to determine the process conditions enabling SL extension, by considering both microbiological criteria (safety and hygiene) and  the organoleptic quality of the treated product.
Predictive microbiology was used to determine the influence of formulation (lactate concentration, a food preservative), process (high pressure treatment) and cold storage on the survival and growth of pathogenic bacteria (Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella, and Escherichia coli, considered as an hygienic indicator).   
The model was built from experimental data (poutry meat containing 0 to 1.8 % lactate and treatments performed at 200 to 500 MPa). In parallel, sensorial and color analysis were performed to evaluate the influence of the treatment on the organoleptic quality of the product. The approach experimentally validated enabled to establish quantitative decision rules and process / formulation conditions enabling SL extension.
This approach could be profitably implemented by food processors as a decision support tool for shelf-life determination.

Partners: This work was undertaken during the PhD of Marion Lerasle in the 'UMT Hautes Pressions', gathering UMR SECALIM (Oniris-Inra), UMR GEPEA (University of Nantes - Oniris - Ecole des Mines - CNRS) and CTCPA (technical Center for the preservation of agricultural products).

Associated publication: Guillou, S., M. Lerasle, H. Simonin, V. Anthoine, R. Cheret, M. Federighi  and J.-M. Membré 2016. Multi-criteria framework as an innovative tradeoff approach to determine the shelf-life of high pressure-treated poultry International Journal of Food Microbiology 233: 60-72. doi:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2016.05.027