Health is Wealth is working with the USDA's "Be Food Safe" program to help promote healthy and safe food practices, including preparation, storing, cooking, etc. We will periodically add new articles from the USDA's website that we feel would best help our customers. If you have any requested information, please contact us.
- With the string of severe weather that is facing the United States, we though it would be useful to share USDA's "A Consumer's Guide to Food Safety: Severe Storms and Hurricanes " (click title to download complete pdf version) Highlights include the following:
FOOD SAFETY DURING AN EMERGENCY
Did you know that a flood, fire, national disaster, or the loss of power from high winds, snow, or ice could jeopardize the safety of your food? Knowing how to determine if food is safe and how to keep food safe will help minimize the potential loss of food and reduce the risk of foodborne illness. This Consumer's Guide will help you make the right decisions for keeping your family safe during an emergency.
POWER OUTAGES
We practice basic safe food handling in our daily lives, but obtaining and storing food safely becomes more challenging during a power outage or natural disasters such as hurricanes and floods.
Steps to Follow to Prepare for a Possible Weather Emergency:
Keep an appliance thermometer in the refrigerator and freezer. An appliance thermometer will indicate the temperature in the refrigerator and freezer in case of a power outage and help determine the safety of the food.
- Make sure the freezer is at 0 °F (Fahrenheit) or below and the refrigerator is at 40 °F or below.
- Freeze containers of water for ice to help keep food cold in the freezer, refrigerator, or coolers after the power is out.
- Freeze refrigerated items such as leftovers, milk, and fresh meat and poultry that you may not need immediately-this helps keep them at a safe temperature longer.
- Plan ahead and know where dry ice and block ice can be purchased.
- Store food on shelves that will be safely out of the way of contaminated water in case of flooding.
- Have coolers on hand to keep refrigerator food cold if the power will be out for more than 4 hours. Purchase or make ice cubes and store in the freezer for use in the refrigerator or in a cooler. Freeze gel packs ahead of time for use in coolers.
- Group food together in the freezer—this helps the food stay cold longer.
Steps to Follow During and After the Weather Emergency:
How to Determine What Food to Keep or Discard
- Never taste a food to determine its safety!
- Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature.
- A full freezer will hold the temperature for approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full and the door remains closed).
- Food may be safely refrozen if it still contains ice crystals or is at 40 °F or below.
- Obtain block ice or dry ice to keep your refrigerator and freezer as cold as possible if the power is going to be out for a prolonged period of time. Fifty pounds of dry ice should hold an 18-cubic-foot full freezer for 2 days.
- If the power has been out for several days, then check the temperature of the freezer with an appliance thermometer or food thermometer. If the food still contains ice crystals or is at 40 °F or below, the food is safe.
- If a thermometer has not been kept in the freezer, then check each package of food to determine its safety. If the food still contains ice crystals, the food is safe.
- When in Doubt, Throw it Out!
- Discard any food that is not in a waterproof container if there is any chance that it has come into contact with flood water. Food containers that are not waterproof include those with screw-caps, snap lids, pull tops, and crimped caps. Also, discard cardboard juice/milk/baby formula boxes and home canned foods if they have come in contact with flood water, because they cannot be effectively cleaned and sanitized.
When to Save and When To Throw It Out FOOD Still contains ice crystals and feels as cold as if refrigerated Thawed.
Held above 40 °F for over 2 hoursPoultry and ground poultry Refreeze Discard Cheese (soft and semi-soft) Refreeze. May lose some texture. Discard Hard cheeses Refreeze Refreeze Shredded cheeses Refreeze Discard Vegetables
Home or commercially packaged or blanched
Refreeze. May suffer texture and flavor loss. Discard after held above 40 °F for 6 hours. BREADS, PASTRIES
Breads, rolls, muffins, cakes (without custard fillings)
Refreeze
RefreezeBreakfast items –waffles, pancakes, bagels Refreeze Refreeze Frozen meal, entree, specialty items (pizza, sausage and biscuit, meat pie, convenience foods) Refreeze Discard
