All VSP steaks had a shelf life from 37 to 41 days. These shelf lives were much longer than the shelf lives (between 22 and 27 days) based on the microbiological criteria. This reinforces those microbiological criteria for shelf life determination are not appropriate as an indicator of product quality. However, aging of rump primals for up to 56 days had only marginal effects on the shelf life of VSP products based on both microbiological quality and odour attributes. This offers some flexibility in the process of producing VSP products to meet customer’s expectations without significant effects on their shelf life.