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Power Outages and Food Safety

July 18, 2008

What foods should I throw away? What can I keep? These are common questions during summer months when power outages from storms and brown-outs affect the function of refrigerators and freezers.

What can you do to ensure your food will be safe? For starters, during a power outage, keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed. A refrigerator can stay chilled for at least four to six hours if it’s unopened. In a half-full to full freestanding freezer, foods can keep for up to two days.

Once power is restored, follow these guidelines:

If foods have formed ice crystals, refreeze them and use them as soon as possible.
Discard perishable foods held at room temperature for more than two hours.
Less-perishable foods may be kept if the power outage lasted for only a few hours.
Throw out food that turns moldy or smells bad.

Keep shelf-stable foods like cereals, canned vegetables and bottled water in the pantry for emergencies.

Produced by ADA’s Public Relations Team

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