Survival analysis model to estimate sensory shelf life with temperature and illumination as accelerating factors

The main objective of this study was to introduce a survival model to contemplate two simultaneous accelerating factors affecting a food product’s shelf life: temperature and illumination. A second objective was to consider the case where the same consumer tests different experimental conditions and thus his/her data are not independent. Sample data comprised 108 consumers who evaluated a lemon-flavored juice stored at 24¿°C, 37¿°C and 45¿°C; under conditions of no-illumination and with illumination; with seven different storage times for each of the six experimental conditions. Aiming to estimate the storage time at which a consumer rejects a sample a model including an Arrhenius term for the temperature, a binomial response for illumination (with and without) and the interaction of both was developed. The model also considered that the same consumer tested different experimental conditions.
Peer Reviewed
Postprint (author's final draft)