On November 22, 2023, the Israeli Ministry of Health issued document 540792823, the “Appropriate Manufacturer's Guidelines for Determining the Shelf Life of Ready-to-Eat Foods”. The main contents include:

(1) Appropriate range of manufacturers: food manufacturers with appropriate production licenses; Manufacturers of meat products with production licenses; Meat production plant with GMP;

(2) Definition;

(3) Validation: When determining shelf life as part of their food safety plan, manufacturers must consider the entire production process, from the beginning of the raw material to the production process itself, including added materials that may affect shelf life, taking into account the following descriptions: the product and its chemical and physical properties (e.g. Water activity (aw), pH, moisture, salinity, etc.), storage, transportation, and use by the end consumer. Validation of the shelf life will be carried out according to the temperature at which the product must be kept, taking into account possible temperature fluctuations in transport, sales and the end consumer to ensure that its performance is maintained to the shelf life expiration date before its use. The product label should indicate the expiration date and storage temperature of the product;

(4) Management of the validation process to determine the shelf life;

(5) Validation requirements for different threshold shelf life.