Keeping Food Safe After Storms
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Fall storms can leave us with a lot to clean up and go through. If your power has been out, you will need to know what foods are safe to keep and which foods you should discard. Usually, you can not tell by looking if a food is safe and you should never taste food to determine whether to keep it or not.
If your home experiences a temporary power outage, here are some key reminders from the USDA so that you keep your food safe to eat.
- Monitor Temperatures: Keep an appliance thermometer in both the refrigerator and freezer. Make sure the refrigerator temperature is at 40°F or below and the freezer is at 0 F or below.
- 4-Hour Window: Your refrigerator will keep food safe for up to 4 hours during a power outage. After 4 hours without power, discard refrigerated perishable food. Meat, poultry, fish, eggs and leftovers must be thrown out.
- Use a food thermometer: You can check the internal temperature of foods and items such as milk or other liquids and if they are still below 40°F you can keep them.
- When in Doubt, Throw it Out: Never taste food to determine its safety. Evaluate each item separately by using this chart as a guide.
- Food Keeps Longer in a Freezer: If the doors stay closed, food will stay safe for up to 48 hours in a full freezer and 24 hours in a half-full freezer.
- Use a Cooler: Transfer food to a cooler and fill with ice or frozen gel packs. Make sure there is enough ice to keep food in the cooler at 40 F or below. Add more ice to the cooler as it begins to melt.
- Plan Ahead: Obtain dry ice or block ice if your power is going to be out for a prolonged period. Fifty pounds of dry ice should hold an 18-cubic-foot freezer for 2 days. (Caution: Do not touch dry ice with bare hands or place it in direct contact with food.)
If you have had some flooding there may be cautions you need to take. As individuals go through their kitchen and start to sift through their food, there are certain foods that are safe to keep and others that need to be tossed for safety reasons. Foods in waterproof food storage containers or commercially prepared jars, cans, and retort pouches that have contacted flood waters can be kept if they are properly cleaned and sanitized. For more information, see Safe Food After a Flood. If the flooding has only been in the garden, these are helpful tips from Nebraska Cooperative Extension.