Stability testing consists of testing the shelf life and safety of a product. Such information can prove useful for companies selling cosmetics, medical drugs, or other products to assure their customers how much time they are safe for use. While due diligence consulting experts already help with the assurance of product safety, this method also helps create and sell more successful products since authorities require specific tests for companies to be trusted by consumers.
Stability testing will usually consist of testing a batch of formulas by putting it through different environmental conditions for a set period. The requirements may vary from temperature to test out how the product wears out from when it was bought to its full use.
Types of primary stability tests
Stability testing provides how the quality of a particular product varies at different times. There are a few ways to conduct testing to observe and examine a product’s shelf life thoroughly, and you can find some below.
Physical
This test conducts examining the appearance, color, clarity, and other visible contents in a product. It aims to see how the visual attributes of the product may resist certain temperatures and environments. This technique also helps companies decide how to package their products according to the visible factors and how they react to each other.
Chemical
This method aims to see how the product and its ingredients react to various environments. It can include preservatives and residual solvents that go into making the product more resistant in multiple atmospheres.
Why stability testing is important
Stability studies and testing can play a huge role in estimating a product’s shelf life under various environments, such as different temperatures and exposures to different lighting. Stability testing also ensures that chemicals used to preserve and sustain a product’s life prove successful.
And whether or not these ingredients will decay over time and instead become harmful to those who are using them. Therefore, the results are based on sustainability, which is how companies can make proper decisions. Additionally, stability testing further improves a company’s brand name as they produce tested products that are ensured not to harm, which increases customer loyalty and trust.
Moreover, it may also attract new customers through the spread of word that a company that is continually improving the quality of the products they are selling by ensuring quality and coming up with safer formulas to sell will be highly favorable for the company itself.
When to do tests
It is usually recommended to do these tests at the initial point of product life cycles. And later change it to every three months in a year. However, more frequent testing nearer to the end allows for better information regarding the product and its stability.
Moreover, it is still equally important to keep testing the product’s wear and tear from the start and later decrease the frequencies overtime after getting an idea of how it seems to be reacting. Since every product is not the same, you must cater to your specific needs and review all of the contributing factors such as what kind of product it is, how long it will typically take to expire, and other similar attributes.
Test methods
There are several ways to test and examine a product’s stability; however, this will depend on the particular kind of product made, its uses, and what it’s made of. Different test methods will give different accuracy levels to judge how a product will do in its lifecycle. Other tests are confused with testing a product’s durability, potency, and levels of safety.
Specialists or authorities who conduct these tests will often take cosmetology products and place them into temperature-controlled environments to see the chemical reactions and other significant responses to determine how the product can hold up in humid atmospheres.
Additionally, other times they may test out products by placing the product’s microbial contents like growths in microorganisms and antioxidants to test f the product will not decay until a certain amount of time. This method can improve and prolong product lifecycles as they will be able to prevent any delays.
Conclusion
As we have reviewed, it is essential for companies that make long-term products such as cosmetics, drugs, or even preserved food items to account for stability testing. It helps give the company a competitive edge over the market and improve customer satisfaction. It provides a company with safety and respect in the market, increasing overall sales.
