What To Do With Food Before And After A Power Outage
Did you lose power in the storm? Here's what you need to know to about when the food in your fridge can go bad.
After just four hours without power the food in your fridge can start to turn.
No one wants food poisoning after their electricity finally comes back on,so here's what you need to know to stay healthy according to FoodSafety.gov.
- While the power is still out make sure you keep your fridge and freezer closed as much as possible to keep the cold temperatures in.
- Try to group your cold items together to prevent temperature loss.
- After the power comes back on make sure to throw away all perishable foods (meat, milk,eggs, leftovers). Anything perishable can go bad in just four hours, so tossing it all when the power comes back on is your best bet to avoid food born illnesses.
- Check the temperature of your freezer. If the freezer temp stayed below 40 degrees you can safely re-freeze everything. If not, you've got to dump it.
- If you don't know the freezer temperature, check out each package to see if it seems safe. obviously if it smells funny, toss it. If it still has ice crystals on it, you are good to re-freeze.
Food born illnesses can cause vomiting, nausea, diarrhea and abdominal pain, as well as flu-like fevers and body aches. You can get sick immediately or even up to six weeks later, so batter safe than sorry and just get rid of anything suspect in your refrigerator.