Here’s the deal — Shelf Reliance will give a $10 gift certificate to anyone who puts a Shelf Reliance button on their blog.  Even if your mom is the only one who reads your blog, you are still eligible to enter the contest.  Every reader counts, so start spreading the word about Shelf Reliance today!

http://www.shelfreliance.com/fan#2

http://www.shelfreliance.com/buttons?___store=default

Go to either of these two pages by clicking on the link, then grab one or more of our buttons, put it on your blog, and let us know by emailing advertising@shelfreliance.com.  Be sure to include your blog’s URL, so that we can check it out.

If you are one of the first 100 people to add a button, we will email the gift certificate to the email you provided.  It’s that easy!

We have just a few rules:

1. Only the first 100 people who respond will get the gift certificate, so hurry!

2. We ask that you leave the button up for at least six months.

3. The button should be in a visible place, like on the top or side of the blog.

4. The button can’t be in a blog post, because then it would only be visible for a few days/hours depending on how frequently you update your blog.

5. Limit one per person.

First of all, we would like to thank the kind folks at foodstoragemadeeasy.net for hosting the giveaway. We got a lot of entries and want to thank all of you for signing up to win.

But enough of that, let’s get to the point! The winner of the Harvest 72″ Food Rotation System is . . . (drum roll please) . . .

Elizabeth Carter!

Congratulations Elizabeth! And thanks again to all of you who signed up to win. As a consolation prize for the rest of you, we’re giving you all a coupon code for an additional 10% off ANY Shelf Reliance Food Rotation System. Whether you want the Harvest, the Pantry, or one of our Cansolidators, use the code FRS10 to get it for cheaper! You can use this code on as many Food Rotation Systems as you’d like, but hurry, it only lasts for two weeks. It will expire on October 15th. Again, the code you need to punch in at checkout is FRS10.

In honor of National Preparedness Month we are giving away our favorite and most popular Food Rotation System, the Harvest 72″. This giveaway is worth $459.99. You are eligible for up to 4 entries as outlined below. The giveaway ends on September 30, 2010 at midnight, MST. So be sure to submit your comments before then! We will announce the winner here on our blog, October 1st. Good luck!

Anyone who comments on this blog entry will be entered to win the Harvest 72″. Each comment counts as a separate entry.

(1) The 1st entry is earned by signing up to receive the Shelf Reliance newsletter. The newsletter is one of the best ways to stay up-to-date with all that Shelf Reliance has to offer, including sales, promotions, new products, and online tools. Receiving the newsletter is as easy as entering your e-mail address in the indicated box at www.shelfreliance.com. When you’ve done that, leave a comment on this blog post. This comment should include your first and last name, along with something like, “I signed up for the newsletter.” If you already receive the Shelf Reliance newsletter, leave a comment with your name and something like, “I already receive the newsletter.”

(2) The 2nd entry is earned by becoming a fan of Shelf Reliance through Facebook. Our Facebook page is a great place to read unique company news, network with other food storage & emergency preparedness enthusiasts, and – perhaps best of all – discover promotions that are only available through Facebook. To find the fan page, simply search for Shelf Reliance in the search bar on Facebook or click here. Once you’re a fan, leave a comment on this blog post. This comment should have your name and something along the lines of, “I’m a fan on Facebook.” And – you guessed it – if you’re already a Facebook fan, the comment should include your name and something like, “I was already a fan on Facebook!” Comments made on Facebook will NOT be counted as an entry.

(3) The 3rd entry is earned by leaving a comment on our blog. Tell us which city and state you’re from and how you first heard about Shelf Reliance. For example, “Provo, UT – Saw an ad in LDS Living Magazine.” It’s that simple.

(4) The 4th entry is earned by following us on Twitter. Twitter users can find us by searching “ShelfReliance” on their Twitter homepages. Once you’ve clicked the “Follow” button to receive updates from Shelf Reliance, just leave another comment on this blog post! Those who already follow ShelfReliance on Twitter are entitled to this entry as well, just let us know you already follow us. Our Twitter updates will remind you of current sales and promotions that you can find at www.shelfreliance.com.

Remember, each of the four comments counts as a separate entry. If you just leave one comment that says you’ve done all four things, you’ll only be entered to win once, so be careful about that! Also, you don’t need to do all four things in numerical order (for example, you could just do options 1 & 3 if you wanted). The winner will be chosen randomly, and we’ll be certain to verify that the winning entry is legitimate and fair. Any entries that aren’t in accordance with the giveaway rules will be disqualified and removed.

It’s time to get blogging, get clicking, get commenting! We’re just itching to give this Harvest 72″ away!

Looking for our birthday giveaway? You’re getting warmer! Visit this blog post for official entry rules and all the info you need.

Each night, we’ll announce a new item on sale for 50% off. The sale will last from 5:00 pm to midnight (Mountain), so time is of the essence! Today’s item is …

The Harvest 72″ #10

Regular Price: $459.99
Birthday Bonus Price: $230.00

(Sale price applies to single units and excludes multi-packs. Cannot be combined with other offers.)

Sale will end at midnight. Happy shopping and happy birthday from Shelf Reliance!

Looking for our birthday giveaway? You’re getting warmer! Visit this blog post for official entry rules and all the info you need.

Each night, we’ll announce a new item on sale for 50% off. The sale will last from 5:00 pm to midnight (Mountain), so time is of the essence! Today’s item is …

The 2 Person Survival Pack

Regular Price: $160.00
Birthday Bonus Price: $80.00

But wait – there’s more!

Freeze Dried Mushroom Pieces

Regular Price:  $18.90
Birthday Bonus Price: $9.45

Red & Green Bell Peppers

Regular Price: $12.69
Birthday Bonus Price: $6.35

Carrot Dices

Regular Price: $15.38
Birthday Bonus Price: $7.69

(All sale prices apply to single items and exclude multi-packs. Cannot be combined with other offers.)

Sale will end at midnight. Happy shopping and happy birthday from Shelf Reliance!

Looking for our birthday giveaway? You’re getting warmer! Visit this blog post for official entry rules and all the info you need.

Each night, we’ll announce a new item on sale for 50% off. The sale will last from 5:00 pm to midnight (Mountain), so time is of the essence! Today’s item is …

The Pantry 72″

Regular Price: $359.99
Birthday Bonus Price: $180.00

(Birthday Bonus price applies to single units and excludes multi-packs. Cannot be combined with other offers.)

Sale will end at midnight. Happy shopping and happy birthday from Shelf Reliance!

Looking for our birthday giveaway? You’re getting warmer! Visit this blog post for official entry rules and all the info you need.

Each night, we’ll announce a new item on sale for 50% off. The sale will last from 5:00 pm to midnight (Mountain), so time is of the essence! Today’s item is …

The Harvest 51″

Regular Price: $379.99
Birthday Bonus Price: $190.00

(Sale price cannot be combined with other offers.)

Sale will end at midnight. Happy shopping and happy birthday from Shelf Reliance!

Looking for our birthday giveaway? You’re getting warmer! Visit this blog post for official entry rules and all the info you need.

Each night at 5:00 pm, we’ll announce a new item on sale for 50% off. The sale will last from 5:00 pm to midnight, so time is of the essence! Today’s item is …

The Cansolidator Pantry Plus

Regular Price: $62.99
Birthday Bonus Price: $31.50

(50% off price applies to single units and excludes multi-packs)

Sale will end at midnight. Happy shopping and happy birthday from Shelf Reliance!

Our faithful readers may have wondered what happened to our typical Monday post, which usually announces a new weekly giveaway. There’s no need to worry; our Free on Friday contests aren’t going anywhere. We are taking a two-week break, but we are brewing up plans for a HUGE giveaway to take place later in the month. Be sure to check back on November 16th. You won’t want to miss this!

You wake in the middle of the night to find you’re suffering from an awful headache. You know that going back to sleep is hopeless without a little medical assistance, so you go to the medicine chest and grab some aspirin. As you twist off the cap, you notice the expiration date on the bottle. In your groggy state, you calculate the difference in dates and find – uh oh! – this bottle has been expired for over a year. What now? Is the medicine safe to take? As a pain reliever, is it effective or useless?

The shelf life of most medicines is up for debate. The question becomes even more important in the case of expensive prescription medication, which people pay good money for and throw away once the expiration date has passed.

The expiration date on that bottle of aspirin you’re holding didn’t appear out of thin air. In 1979, a new law required drug manufacturers to add these dates to their products. The date you see represents the length of time that the manufacturer can still promise the drug to be safe and sufficiently effective. Typically, that length of time is about 2 years (or 1 year, if you received the medication directly from a pharmacist). However, studies from the Food and Drug Administration indicate that the vast majority of medicines are still well-preserved for 15 years after the expiration date. In other words, the word expiration in ‘expiration date’ doesn’t so much indicate the expiration of safety; it only stands for the expiration of the manufacturer’s guarantee.

A possible exception is the drug tetracycline. One study from the 1960s asserts that this drug, when degraded by the passage of time, can cause kidney damage. Later studies have refuted this claim, and the FDA has extended the shelf life of tetracycline by two years.  Other drugs that are more sensitive to time include nitroglycerin, insulin, and liquid antibiotics.

When evaluating your own medicine cabinet, take note of the expiration dates you find. Within a few months of those dates, the products are most certainly safe and highly effective. After a few years have passed, the potency will decrease, so it might be time to get some new supplies. Another option is to take some simple measures to lengthen the shelf life of your medication and get the most out of your money.

• Keep your medications away from heat and moisture. This makes a cabinet in your bathroom or near your stove poor choices, since the heat and humidity your pills will encounter will cause them to degrade. If you do keep your medications in the bathroom, check them every six months or so for discoloration and crumbling, both of which are good indications that your pills are losing strength. Ultimately, the best place to store your medicine will be both cool and dry.
• Use the original containers. These bottles will protect the contents from excessive light, and they’ll also help to ensure that the right pills are getting to the right person. Using a separate container to organize daily/weekly doses isn’t a big problem, but for long-term storage, the original containers are best.
• The cool temperature in your refrigerator is a great resource, particularly for liquid medication. Keep your medicine from zones that are cold enough to form ice crystals, opting instead for the more mild spots that are typically located toward the front of your fridge. Of course, be careful to keep pills out of the reach of small children; they may mistake the medicine for candy.

If you have any questions about how to respond to the expiration dates of your medicine, get in touch with a qualified pharmacist. Thanks for reading!