Product Reference - Shelf Life

By using the best quality ingredients available and applying rigid manufacturing specifications to every product, LabDiet^® produces superior quality diets. To ensure that your animals are getting proper nutrition, and that your laboratory results are as accurate as possible, the product should be stored according to recommendations and used within its shelf life. The following information is provided as a guide to help you properly store your product and determine if a product has exceeded its shelf life.

The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals guidelines recommends using animal feeds within six months of manufacture. LabDiet^® agrees with this policy.

The date of manufacture is printed on every bag of LabDiet^® food so that you can be sure your product is being used within its shelf life. Use the manufacture date to manage your feed inventory, too. Always feed the oldest product in your inventory first to avoid wasting feed.

Vitamin A is considered to be the sentinel vitamin in LabDiet^® products. Research has shown that vitamin A is more labile than other fat-soluble vitamins. Therefore, vitamin A levels often determine the shelf life of many of our products.

Even though the vitamin levels may remain adequate, old feed often accumulates oxidation products. These oxidation products are difficult to measure analytically, but usually product off-odors that affect palatability. Off-odors are detected subjectively; product that has developed these odors should not be used.

The shelf life of laboratory animal foods is directly affected by temperature and humidity. LabDiet^® has studied the stability of our foods under a variety of storage environments. Our data showed that increased temperature and humidity result in decreased food shelf life. LabDiet^® has identified geographic regions of the USA where these factors create special problems and has required dealers in those regions to provide air-conditioned storage facilities. Laboratories should take care to control the temperature and humidity of storage areas to prevent product deterioration.

Controlled tests have shown that when LabDiet^® products are stored at 72° F (22° C) with 50% relative humidity (a normal air-conditioned environment), nutritional quality is maintained for at least six months. Similar research with tablets indicate that LabDiet^® tablets are nutritionally adequate for up to one year when stored at room temperature.

Certified Rodent Diet 

Guinea Pig Diet 

Monkey Diet 

TestDiet Monkey MV