In Korea, from January 2023, the Act on Labeling and Advertising of Food was revised to reflect the use-by-date rather than the sell-by-date. Hence, the purpose of this study was to establish a system for calculating the safety factor and determining the recommended use-by-date for each food type, thereby providing a scientific basis for the recommended use-by-date labels. A safety factor calculation technique based on scientific principles was designed through literature review and simulation, and opinions were collected by conducting surveys and discussions including industry and academia, among others. The main considerations in this study were pH, Aw, sterilization, preservatives, packaging for storage improvement, storage temperature, and other external factors. A safety factor of 0.97 was exceptionally applied for frozen products and 1.0 for sterilized products. In addition, a between-sample error value of 0.08 was applied to factors related to product and experimental design. This study suggests that clearly providing a safe use-by-date will help reduce food waste and contribute to carbon neutrality.

Materials and Methods
    한국과 외국의 과학적 소비기한 안전계수 관련 문헌 조사를 통한 안전계수 요인 설정
    과학적 안전계수법 설정을 위한 내적 요인과 외적 요인 모의 실험
    식품의 특성, 포장방법, 유통 조건 등을 고려한 안전계수산출 방법 도출
    통계분석
Results and Discussion
    한국과 외국의 과학적 소비기한 안전계수 관련 문헌 조사를 통한 안전계수 요인 설정
    과학적 안전계수법 설정을 위한 내적 요인과 외적 요인 모의실험
    식품의 특성, 포장방법, 유통조건 등을 고려한 안전계수 산출방법 도출
    수소이온농도(pH) 안전계수 산출 근거
    수분활성도(Aw) 안전계수 산출 근거
    살균, 보존료(항균, 항산화) 함유 또는 저장성 향상 포장(레토르트, 진공, CO2 충진, N2 충진, 탈산소제 등) 안전계수산출 근거
    저장 온도(냉동, 냉장, 상온, 실온)와 멸균 안전계수 산출근거
Acknowledgement
국문요약
Conflict of interests
ORCID

• 김병후(중앙대학교 식품공학과 식품안전연구실) | Byoung Hu Kim (Advanced Food Safety Research group, Chung-Ang University, Anseong, Korea)
• 정수진(중앙대학교 식품공학과 식품안전연구실) | Soo-Jin Jung (Advanced Food Safety Research group, Chung-Ang University, Anseong, Korea)
• 강준구(중앙대학교 식품공학과 식품안전연구실) | June Gu Kang (Advanced Food Safety Research group, Chung-Ang University, Anseong, Korea)
• 윤요한(숙명여자대학교 식품영양학과) | Yohan Yoon (2Department of Food and Nutrition, Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul, Korea)
• 신재욱(한국식품산업협회 부설 한국식품과학연구원 소비기한연구센터) | Jae-Wook Shin (Korea Advanced Food Research Institute, Uiwang, Korea)
• 이철수(한국식품산업협회 부설 한국식품과학연구원 소비기한연구센터) | Cheol-Soo Lee (Korea Advanced Food Research Institute, Uiwang, Korea)
• 하상도(중앙대학교 식품공학과 식품안전연구실) | Sang-Do Ha (Advanced Food Safety Research group, Chung-Ang University, Anseong, Korea) Corresponding author