If you are in a disaster or emergency, take steps to prevent illness from unsafe food. Refrigerated or frozen foods may not be safe to eat after a loss of power. Food that may have had contact with floodwater or storm water may also be unsafe to eat.
Prepare for emergencies
- Keep appliance thermometers in your refrigerator and freezer. The refrigerator should be at 40°F or below. The freezer should be at 0°F or below.
- Freeze containers of water and gel packs to help keep food at 40°F or below.
- Have a cooler and frozen gel packs ready in case you have to remove food from the refrigerator to keep it cold.
- Buy dry ice or block ice to keep food cold in the refrigerator if you think the power could be out for a long time.
Steps to take during a power outage
- Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed.
- If the doors stay closed, food will stay safe up to: 4 hours in a refrigerator, 48 hours in a full freezer, 24 hours in a half-full freezer.
- If the power has been out for 4 hours, and a cooler and ice are available, put refrigerated perishable foods in the cooler. To keep them at 40°F or below, add ice or a cold source like frozen gel packs.
Steps to take after a power outage
- Never taste food to know if it is safe to eat. When in doubt, throw it out.
- Throw out perishable food in your refrigerator (meat, fish, cut fruits and vegetables, eggs, milk, and leftovers) after 4 hours without power or without a cold source like ice. Throw out any food with an unusual smell, color, or texture.
- If you have an appliance thermometer in your refrigerator, check to see if it is still at 40 °F or below.
- Check temperatures of food kept in coolers or your refrigerator with an added cold source. Throw out food that has thawed or is above 40°.
- You can safely refreeze or cook thawed frozen food that still contains ice crystals or is at 40 °F or below.
Resource
Check this FoodSafety.gov chart for a list of what foods you should throw out and foods you can refreeze.
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