Shelf life Encompasses the core considerations about shelf life. Section 1 introduces shelf life describes its relationship to food safety and provides answers to the frequently asked questions around shelf life determination and testing which are a managers chief concerns. Section 2 covers the science of the various ways in which food deteriorates and spoils including the physical chemical and microbiological changes. Section 3 looks at shelf life in practice using case studies of different products to illustrate how shelf life may be determined in real life settings