Atlas provides an array of testing instruments and solutions for the lightfastness / photo stability testing of foods and beverages. Many constituents in food products are sensitive to light, and may results in off-taste, bad odor, off-color, or loss of nutrient profile such as vitamins. These include, but are not limited to,
- Dairy and cheese products
- Nuts, seeds and certain edible oils
- Citrus and other natural flavors
- Beer, wine and certain flavored liqueurs and spirits
Millennials are further driving F&B product development. First, they increasing demand replacing artificial colors and flavors with “natural” ones; often, these have poorer stability to light exposure than their synthetic counterparts. Secondly, today’s consumer wants the package contents to be visible; they want to see the contents before making a purchase decision. Unfortunately, this combination often leads to unacceptable changes in the appearance, taste, odor or nutritional value of the contents.
Examples of products tested:
- Natural flavors for soft drinks
- Cheese snack crackers in vending packages
- Nut and seed crackers
- Milk in returnable glass containers
- Chocolate bars
- Baby food in semi-transparent retort pouches
- Cheese ball snacks in transparent tubs
- Beer in various glass and plastic bottles
- Herb and citrus flavored vodka, whiskey and cordials
- Bottled alcoholic “beach” beverages
Lightfastness / photostability testing of package contents as well the food or beverage product itself leads to better product formulations and packaging decisions and avoids the potential risks associated with unacceptable shelf stability or consumer appeal.
Atlas provides instrument solutions to test ingredients, F&B products and product-in-packaging, from small test specimens up to 2 liter bottles. The light can be tailored to test to direct full spectrum outdoor solar radiation, window-glass filtered daylight, automotive interior light, or artificial store lighting depending on your needs. While all Atlas xenon instruments can be used, we have developed special Food & Drink (FD) application-specific models especially tailored to packaging and content testing.
Outdoor exposures at our test sites such as our Miami or Phoenix area facilities are also common for products that will see outdoor exposures. One major beverage manufacturer has us pour a glass of cola beverage and expose for 30 minutes at noon, then seal and return to them for flavor and color analysis. Our commercial laboratory weathering service can provide contract testing as well.
Atlas’ consulting group can help advise how best to test as well as provide guidance on test parameters such as equivalence to supermarket retail exposure.
