Food Safety for Power Outages | Food Safety (2024)

FAQs

How to keep food safe during a power outage? ›

As the USDA notes in Keeping Food Safe During an Emergency, your refrigerator will keep food safe for up to 4 hours during a power outage. Keep the door closed as much as possible. Discard refrigerated perishable food such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and leftovers after 4 hours without power.

Refrigerated foods that can be held at temperatures above 40ºF until power returns include: hard cheeses, butter, margarine, fresh fruits, fruit juice, fresh unpeeled vegetables, salad dressing, ketchup, mustard, olives, pickles, jams, jellies and peanut butter.

Good options include low-sodium canned beans, vegetables, fruit (packed in fruit juice), breakfast cereal, peanut butter, pouches of fully cooked whole grains, nuts, whole-wheat crackers, snack bars, and shelf-stable milk or plant milk (the kind sold in aseptic boxes in the grocery aisle).

It should be safe as long as power is out for no more than four hours. Keep the door closed as much as possible.

The most important thing to remember is: keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed! A refrigerator will keep food cold for about 4 hours if the door is kept closed. A full freezer will keep temperature for about 48 hours (24 hours if half-full).

Hard cheese, butter and margarine.

Well packaged products should remain safe; if odors or mold develops, discard the items.

The question, how long do you have before it's a serious problem? A few minutes should be fine. In fact, even a few hours probably won't hurt. Once you get past four to six hours, though, the safest thing to do is throw out every perishable item in your refrigerator.

Throw away the partially cooked meat or poultry. casseroles) should be cooled quickly on ice or in an ice and water bath. When power is restored, heat the food to at least 165°F (74ºC).

First, check the appliance thermometer. If the temperature inside the refrigerator has been above 40˚ for two hours or more, discard the perishable food, including eggs. See this Foodsafety.gov chart for guidelines to determine whether to keep or discard specific foods. When in doubt, throw it out!

Do you have to throw out cheese after a power outage? ›

Discard refrigerated perishable food such as meat, poultry, fish, soft cheeses, milk, eggs, leftovers, and deli items after 4 hours without power or 2 hours after the temperature rises above 41 °F. At any time, discard spoiled, moldy food and anything that does not look or smell right.

Hard cheeses, like cheddar or swiss, are safe to keep in brick form. Soft cheeses and hard cheeses that have been shredded should be tossed if they were kept above 40 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 hours or longer.

The best fuel for exercise is carbohydrates, preferably “complex” ones like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Healthy fats from fish, nuts, vegetable oils, and avocados can help fuel endurance sports like long-distance running. Protein can help boost an immune system worn down by exercise.

The outside temperature can vary hour by hour and the temperature outside will not protect refrigerated and frozen food. Additionally, perishable items could be exposed to unsanitary conditions or to animals. Animals may harbor bacteria or disease; never consume food that has come in contact with an animal.

As long as the temperature of your cooler is maintained, most of the contents inside could be edible for up to a week. If you are planning a fishing or camping trip of more than 4 days, carrying an extra cooler to store dry ice, cubed ice, block ice, crushed ice, or loose ice would be best.

Keep fridge and freezer doors closed as much as possible

The food in your freezer should stay frozen for up to 48 hours in a full freezer (or 24 hours if it's half full), but these are estimates. Fridge and freezer temperatures will vary depending on their make and model.