Abstract: The shelf life of foods is not only the quality guarantee from manufacturers, but also the quality requirements from consumers. In view of arbitrary and improper use of predictive shelf life models, we herein analyze factors that influence the shelf life of foods, identify sensory, chemical, physical and microbiological properties as four aspects of food quality for shelf life prediction, explore the corresponding quality deterioration mechanisms and detection methods for the end of shelf life, summarize common predictive shelf life models and algorithms and develop new predictive shelf life models based on food quality deterioration theory. Meanwhile, further directions for research on shelf life prediction of foods are discussed.

Key words: shelf life, quality deterioration, predictive model