Storage modelling
Why 40 °C is not a shortcut for chilled products
Arrhenius modelling breaks down once you cross a phase transition. A note on where acceleration stops being defensible.
18 March 2026Independent laboratory · Bristol, United Kingdom · Established 2006
Evidence for every date code you print
PERMEON runs the storage trials, permeation measurements and challenge tests that sit behind a use-by date — for chilled ready meals, bakery, dairy, and the films and trays they travel in.
Eight service lines, one laboratory, one report format. Tell us the product and the life you need to declare.
Browse servicesShelf-life and packaging testing services
Every study below is run in-house at Feeder Road. We do not subcontract the analytical work, so the chamber logs, the panel sheets and the permeation traces all come from the same building.
ASLT
Accelerated shelf-life studies
Elevated-temperature storage with kinetic modelling, used to bracket a date code before the real-time trial has finished running.
RTSReal-time storage trials
Chambers held at 4 °C, 20 °C and 25 °C/60 %RH with scheduled pull points across the full declared life of the product.
OTR / WVTROxygen & moisture permeation
Coulometric OTR and modulated-infrared WVTR on films, laminates, trays and finished packs, at controlled humidity.
IntegritySeal integrity & leak detection
Burst, creep, dye penetration and vacuum-decay methods to separate a genuine channel leak from a weak but sound seal.
ChallengeMicrobiological challenge testing
Deliberate inoculation with the organism your process is designed to control, tracked against the storage profile you actually ship under.
SensorySensory panel assessment
A trained twelve-person panel scoring appearance, odour, texture and flavour drift at each pull point, blind to the storage arm.
MigrationFood contact migration
Overall and specific migration into food simulants under EU 10/2011 conditions, with declaration-of-compliance support.
TransitTransit & distribution simulation
Vibration, drop and compression sequences run before the storage trial, so the pack you test is the pack that survived the lorry.
Reporting to
- ISO/IEC 17025
- BS EN ISO 4833-1
- ASTM F1927
- ASTM F1249
- EU 10/2011
- ASTM D4169
- ISO 21807
A single laboratory for the whole question
Shelf life is rarely one measurement.
A chilled dessert that fails at day 14 might be failing microbiologically, or it might be losing moisture through the lidding film until the texture goes. Those two answers need different laboratories in most of the market — a food micro lab and a packaging lab — and the reports rarely arrive in the same format or the same month.
PERMEON was set up in 2006 to keep both under one roof. A single study can carry a microbiological arm, a permeation measurement on the pack it is stored in, and a sensory panel reading the same pull points, with one chain of custody and one report.
We test. We do not manufacture film, sell packaging, or certify anyone. That independence is the reason our reports are accepted, and it is why we decline work where we would be assessing our own supply.
How the laboratory is organisedWhy food businesses send work to PERMEON
- Both disciplines in one trial. Micro, sensory and barrier data read from the same pull points.
- Chamber logs released with every report. You see the actual temperature trace, not a claimed setpoint.
- Measurement uncertainty stated. On every quantitative result, without being asked.
- Retailer-format reporting. Laid out the way UK technical teams expect to read it.
- No approval business. We have no certification arm to sell you afterwards.
Submitting work is a three-step process
Most first-time studies are quoted within two working days of the enquiry.
- 1
Describe the product
Matrix, pack format, target life and the storage conditions it will actually see. A photograph of the pack is usually enough to start.
- 2
We scope the trial
You receive a written protocol: storage arms, pull points, methods, replicate counts and the total sample quantity to send.
- 3
Samples in, data out
Interim results are released at each pull point. The full report follows within ten working days of the final point.
Technical notes
Short pieces from the laboratory floor on where studies go wrong — written for technical managers rather than for other laboratories.
All technical notes
Barrier testing
Reading an OTR curve: three failure signatures
Pinhole, delamination and seal-channel failures each leave a different shape on the transmission trace.
2 February 2026
Microbiology
Challenge testing or durability study — which one does your date code need?
The two answer different questions, and a growth study will not satisfy a safety-based shelf life.
9 December 2025
Packaging integrity
Seal creep: what transit simulation exposes
Packs that pass a static burst test at 48 hours frequently fail after a simulated 1,200 km distribution leg.
21 October 2025Twelve controlled chambers. Four permeation cells. One report format.
Frequently asked, before the first study
How long does a shelf-life study take?
A real-time study runs for the life you intend to declare, plus a safety margin — a 21-day chilled product occupies a chamber for about five weeks once the final pull point and reporting are included. Accelerated work returns an indicative figure in two to three weeks, but it does not replace the real-time trial for a first launch.
Do you need production packs, or will pilot samples do?
For a permeation figure, film or pilot material is fine. For anything you intend to put on a label, we ask for packs filled and sealed on the line you will actually run, because seal geometry and headspace drive most of the variation we see.
How many samples should we submit?
As a working figure, three replicate packs per pull point per storage arm. A 21-day chilled trial with four pull points and two temperatures therefore needs 24 packs, plus six for time-zero characterisation.
Can you set the date code for us?
No. We report what the data show under the conditions tested. The declared life is a decision for the food business operator, who holds the process knowledge and the legal responsibility under Regulation (EC) 178/2002.
Request a quotation
Tell us what the product is and what life you need to stand behind. If the work is outside our schedule we will say so and point you to a laboratory that holds the method.
Sample reception
Monday to Friday, 08:00–17:00
Unit 12, Avonbank Technology Park, Feeder Road, Bristol BS2 0UW