Worried About Spoiled Food During a Power Outage?

 
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2020 has been an eventful year and persisting with extreme weather and natural disasters, such as hurricanes, wildfires, ice storms, earthquakes, tornados, floods and thunderstorms. Consequently, power outages are a common outcome. While you cannot always predict the weather, it is good to have an emergency plan and be informed on food safety to keep food from spoiling and you from hunger. 

What to do if you are in a Power Outage?

Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature

  • How long will the food be good, if I don’t open the door?

    • Refrigerator ~4 hours

    • Full freezer ~48 hours (half full freezer ~24 hours)

  • What if I’m out of power longer?

    • Buy dry or block ice to keep the refrigerator as cold as possible and could keep the freezer cold for additional two days

Stock up on non-perishable supplies for at least 3-5 days 

  • Bottled water: at least 5 gallons per person and pets (~1 gallon per day per person)

    • Don’t have bottled water, but have a gas stove boiling water is enough to kill most types of disease-causing organisms

  • Shelf-stable foods that don’t require any cooking

  • Choose canned goods with a pop top lid or use non-electric can opener

  • Fruits & Vegetables:

    • Bananas, apples, oranges, carrots

    • Canned fruit and vegetables

    • Dried fruit

    • Single-serving containers/pouches of applesauce

    • Single-serving containers of 100% fruit or vegetable juice

  • Dairy:

    • Individual milk boxes

    • Non-refrigerated pudding cups

  • Grains

    • Bread

    • Cereal

    • Granola and/or granola bars

    • Crackers

    • Pre-cooked packets of rice

  • Protein

    • Canned or pouches of meats such as tuna, salmon, chicken

    • Jerky, such as beef, chicken or turkey jerky

    • Nut butters

    • Nuts and seeds

    • Trail mix

    • Pre-packaged protein bars

 

Once Power is Restored:

Determine the safety of your food by checking temperatures

Food is safe if

  • Freezer temperature reads 40°F or below

  • Refrigerated perishable foods 40°F or below

    • Meat, poultry or fish

    • Milk or yogurt

    • Eggs

    • Leftovers

  • Refrigerated foods held above 40°F for more than two hours

    • Hard cheeses, processed cheeses, grated parmesan in a can or jar

    • Butter or margarine

    • Fresh fruit or vegetables uncut, mushrooms

    • Jelly, relish, mustard, olives, pickles

    • BBQ, soy, Worcestershire and taco sauces

    • Vinegar-based salad dressings

    • Breads, bagels, tortillas

Unsafe food

  • Refrigerated perishable foods (such as meat, poultry, fish, milk, eggs or leftovers) above 40°F for two hours or more could cause illness even if food is cook thoroughly

  • For a longer list of foods to discard refer to https://www.foodsafety.gov/food-safety-charts/food-safety-during-power-outage

Discard any unsafe food

For floods, throw away food that came into contact with flood water and disinfect containers of undamaged, commercially prepared foods in cans or pouches

Discard all ice in the ice machines of freezers; clean and sanitize and run the ice three cycles and discard ice each cycle

Run your dishwasher (empty) to flush the water lines prior to washing dishes/utensils

Additional resources on keeping food safe and during a power outage:

https://www.foodsafety.gov

https://www.ready.gov/power-outages

https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/types-of-emergencies/power-outage.html

https://www.cdc.gov/natural-disasters/response/what-to-do-protect-yourself-during-a-power-outage.html?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/poweroutage/needtoknow.html

 
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