It’s severe weather season. If your region faces blizzards, tornados, hurricanes, or other serious conditions, you should be prepared for potential consequences. In some cases, this includes extended power outages.
Below are lists of foods you should throw away and foods you can keep, in both your refrigerator and freezer.
THROW THESE FOODS AWAY AFTER A POWER OUTAGE
If you’re without power for four or more hours, or if the temperature inside your refrigerator reaches higher than 40 degrees, you’ll want to throw away:
- Meat, fish, poultry, tofu, and seafood (thawing, raw, or cooked)
- Vegetables that are precut, prewashed, or packaged, vegetable juices, and cooked vegetables
- Cut fruit and fruit juices
- Soups, stews, and casseroles
- Cheese, including soft, shredded, and low-fat
- Milk, cream, yogurt, sour cream, buttermilk, evaporated milk, and soy milk, plus other dairy and non-dairy perishables
- Lunchmeats, hot dogs, bacon, and sausage
- Eggs (cooked or uncooked), plus any foods containing eggs
- Condiments and sauces, including mayonnaise, cream-based dressings, tartar sauce, oyster sauce, and spaghetti sauce
- Refrigerator biscuits and rolls
- Cookie dough
- Pasta and rice (uncooked and cooked)
- Cheesecake, cream-filled pastries, pies with any filling containing eggs or milk.
If your freezer is thawed and remained above 40 degrees for two or more hours, discard:
- Ice cream, sherbet, and frozen yogurt
- Vegetables (if above 40 degrees for six hours)
- Frozen meals, pizza, and meat pies
KEEP THESE FOOD AFTER A POWER OUTAGE
You should check these foods individually, but these foods are typically safe to keep:
- Hard cheeses like cheddar, Colby, Swiss, parmesan, provolone, and Romano, as well as grated cheese
- Butter and margarine
- Uncut fruits and vegetables
- Peanut butter and jelly
- Fruit pies
- Condiments like relish, mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, pickles, olives, BBQ sauce, hot sauce, and vinegar-based dressings
- Breads, breakfast foods, and sweets
- Herbs
TIPS FOR SAVING YOUR FOOD DURING A POWER OUTAGE
- Throw away any food with an unusual odor, color, or texture. It's better to be safe than sorry.
- Other than ice cream, sherbet, and frozen yogurt, most foods can be re-frozen. If frozen food has ice crystals or has stayed at 40 degrees or below, you can safely refreeze it or cook it.
- Purchase an appliance thermometer to check the temperature of your fridge and freezer.
- Freeze containers of water and gel packs to help keep your food at 40 degrees or below, especially when you have advance notice of the impending weather.
- Have a cooler and frozen gel packs handy in case you have to remove the food from the refrigerator or use dry ice or block ice to keep your food cold in the fridge.
- During a power outage, keep your refrigerator and freezer doors closed. This will help keep your food safe longer.
- If your freezer is not full, you’ll only be able to save the food if the power is out less than 24 hours, versus 48 hours with a full freezer. Try to arrange foods close together so they remain cold longer.
