How does a scientist explain something that is not clearly defined? “Shelf life” has been used as an undefined vocabulary term since the beginning of food production. Today the food industry still struggles with the terminology and whether it is a quality attribute or a food safety attribute that plays into the label and guidelines. AACCI has decided to utilize this moment to help define and establish guidelines for shelf-life studies. AACCI is working to establish a series of guidelines for cereal-based products and their ingredients. The guidelines for shelf-life studies will focus on the quality attributes of shelf life and act as a starting place from which to build a common basis for the generation of shelf-life data. AACCI is providing this first guideline (AACCI Method 35-01.01) to help construct a framework for other guidelines associated with shelf life and establish how-to’s for testing shelf life in other products.