We received some wonderful news from our friend Dr. Michael Donaldson, who has a PhD in microbiology from Cornell University. For the past two years, he  has carefully and methodically tested our products, while we pay him for his testing services, this mail was sent on his own volition, and without compensation. Please read his comments below:

-----Original Message----- From: Michael Donaldson Sent: Monday, March 25, 2013 12:18 PM To: Rick Anderson Subject: Hand Lotion Testing   Rick and Kimberly, It was good to see you again last week. I tested your 4 samples of hand lotion that you sent to me in January. Three of the pump samples were marked 1-15-12, meaning they were a year old. The other bottle, a 2 oz Rose Geranium sample with a flip top that was only partially filled was also tested. Usually, at a 200X dilution, for a food sample, you would see tons of red dots on the Petri films.  Under 1,000 cfu/gram is uncommon.  I only saw 2 red dots on the Pure lotion, and 1 red dot on the Lavender lotion sample. These dots could even be random, due to environmental contamination during testing, rather than coming from the lotion themselves.  These lotions are basically as aseptic as my 0.1% peptone that I make in the sterilizer. You have exceptional product stability with these creams, with a microbiological shelf life clearly over 1 year.  I have some old samples that I initially tested for you, and there is still no obvious growth inside the lotion bottles, and the cream still smells good.  Those samples are from the summer of 2011. Congratulations on an excellent product.  May God bless and expand your business and ministry. Michael

.... Thank you Michael!  While we do not recommend that you keep any of our natural products beyond 6 to 8 months, our testing is showing a longer shelf life than we had hoped!  We package our lotions in 8 ounce bottles for that reason also. We thank the Lord for His kindness in allowing us to have a safe and stable line of products that are not only nourishing for your skin, but healthy too! With Mother's Day quickly approaching, please consider a gift from Anderson Family Farm for all of the mothers in your life! We carry a special Mother's Day lotion blend. It's a delightful mix of lavender and rose. Fresh and beautiful, perfect for our dear Mothers. Order it here!