Safety Sunday: To Toss or Keep the Food?

Bam, the power goes out & and you just passed the 4 / 24 hour rule of thumb before it clicked back on… so does that mean that all the food is bad or might some be good? What about the food in the pantry if lord forbid a fire breaks out or you find your house flooded. When it comes to food the most important rule to remember is that perishable food needs to be kept below 40 or above 140 to prevent bacteria from growing.

The 4 / 24 Rule of Thumb:

If the power goes out the standard rule is that a modern refrigerator with the door left closed can keep the food safe for up to 4 hours. A half full freezer with the door kept close will keep items below 40° F mark for approx. 24 hours while a full freezer might make it 48 hours. Dry Ice is one item that can help hold the temperature but you do require quite a bit if you go that route – for an 18 Cubic Foot freezer you are looking at needing a pound an hour or basically a 25# block a day.

Refrigerator & Freezer Settings:

As a general rule we like to keep the refrigerator right above freezing (34° F) & the freezer at 0° F. While some advocate keeping the refrigerator at 40° F we think this is a little fool hardy as every time the door opens up you are potentially bringing the food up above the 40° F mark. If & when the power goes out you have no buffer zone so the food temperature automatically starts climbing.

Taking the temp:

So you have popped into the refrigerator or the freezer a couple of time & the thermometer reads 45 – does that mean the food is gone? Not so fast as air is a terrible insulator and the temperature of the food could be a lot lower than what is indicated. For frozen food one can pretty much tell by feel but refrigerated product is a little harder & the only way to check is to actually take the temperature of the food.

Professional Kitchen Tip: Don’t put a thermometer in the refrigerator by itself, grab a container of water & insert a thermometer in the container so you are taking the true temperature & not the air temperature which can be affected by the unit cooling down or artificially warm from the door being opened.

Quick FAQ’s:

Flood waters covered…  Do not eat any food that may have come into contact with flood water which includes homemade canned goods as there is no way to sanitize them. The only ones possibly safe are regular canned food with no signs of damage or retort / hermetically sealed pouches, but they need to be sanitized.

• Remove the labels, if they are the removable (try to come up with a system so that you can remember which label goes with which can)
• Thoroughly wash the cans or retort pouches with soap and water (preferably hot water) eliminating any dirt or silt
• Rinse the cans with water that is safe for drinking
• Sanitize them by immersion them in one of the two following ways
• Place in water and allow the water to come to a boil and continue boiling for 2 minutes
• Place in a freshly made solution of 1 tablespoon of unscented, liquid chlorine bleach per gallon of drinking water for 15 minutes
• Air-dry for a minimum of 1 hour before opening or storing
• Hopefully you remembered what was what & you can re-label them with a permanent marker (including the expiration date if known)

We had a fire… Discard any food that has been near a fire as it can not only be damaged by the heat but also the smoke fumes, and chemicals used to fight the fire.

Can I put the food from the refrigerator and freezer out in the snow since we lost power… While this sounds like a good idea the answer is no, not really. Frozen food can start thawing doing to the radiant heat from the sun which means refrigerated food may become too warm and foodborne bacteria could start growing. This doesn’t include the unsanitary conditions and animals that may affect it. Consider making ice & using that help keep everything cool. One can use anything from buckets, empty milk cartons, jars or cans to make homemade ice (do we really need to mention doing this in the shade or overnight).

These following charts are courtesy of the Food Safety & Inspection Services of the USDA & they answer the age old question – do I really need to toss everything if it is above 40° F & can I refreeze food that has thawed…

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