What foods should you toss out or keep during a power outage?

Lena Foster
·3 min read

(KLFY)– Ever wondered what food items are safe to consume when your power is out?

During a power outage, there’s only a limited amount of time your refrigerator or freezer can keep your food items fresh.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in the midst of a power outage, food is only safe in the refrigerator for no more than four hours. Refrigerated perishable foods like fish, eggs, meat, poultry, and leftovers are to be thrown away after being left in the refrigerator for more than four hours without power.

When it comes to frozen foods, a freezer is capable of maintaining a safe temperature for approximately 48 hours. Foods can be adequately refrozen if it has ice crystals or its temperature is 40 degrees Fahrenheit or lower; food quality may still be affected.

Once power has been restored, you should not test how safe a food item is by tasting it; determining consumption safety takes a deeper and more individualized approach. So how do you determine what needs to be preserved and what should be trashed?

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These types of refrigerated foods are to be kept or thrown away if they’re held above 40 degrees Fahrenheit for more than two hours, according to the USDA:

Discard

  • Raw or leftover cooked meat, poultry, fish, or seafood; soy meat substitutes

  • Thawing meat or poultry

  • Salads: Meat, tuna, shrimp, chicken, or egg salad

  • Gravy, stuffing, broth

  • Lunch meats, hot dogs, bacon, sausage, dried beef

  • Pizza with any topping

  • Canned hams labeled “Keep Refrigerated”

  • Canned meats and fish, opened

  • Casseroles, soups, stews

  • Soft cheeses: blue/bleu, Roquefort, Brie, Camembert, cottage, cream, Edam, Monterey Jack, ricotta, mozzarella, Muenster, Neufchatel, queso blanco, queso fresco

  • Shredded cheeses

  • Low-fat cheeses

  • Milk, cream, sour cream, buttermilk, evaporated milk, yogurt, eggnog, soy milk

  • Baby formula, opened

  • Fresh shell eggs, eggs hard-cooked in shell, egg dishes, egg products

  • Custards and puddings, quiche

  • Fresh fruits, cut

  • Sliced or shredded coconut

  • Opened mayonnaise, tartar sauce, horseradish ( if above 50°F (10°C) for more than 8 hrs)

  • Fish sauces, oyster sauce

  • Opened creamy-based dressings

  • Spaghetti sauce, opened

  • Refrigerator biscuits, rolls, cookie dough

  • Cooked pasta, rice, potatoes

  • Pasta salads with mayonnaise or vinaigrette

  • Fresh pasta

  • Cheesecake

  • Cream filled pastries

  • Pies: Any with filling containing eggs or milk, e.g., custard, cheese-filled, or chiffon; quiche.

  • Fresh vegetables, cut

  • Greens, pre-cut, pre-washed, packaged

  • Vegetables, cooked

  • Tofu, cooked

  • Vegetable juice, opened

  • Baked potatoes

  • Commercial garlic in oil

  • Potato salad

  • Casseroles, soups, stews

Keep

  • Fresh mushrooms, herbs, spices

  • Fresh vegetables, uncut

  • Fruit pies

  • Breakfast foods: waffles, pancakes, bagels

  • Bread, rolls, cakes, muffins, quick breads, tortillas

  • Opened vinegar-based dressings

  • Worcestershire, soy, barbecue, hoisin sauces

  • Jelly, relish, taco sauce, mustard, catsup, olives, pickles

  • Peanut butter

  • Dried fruits, raisins, candied fruits, dates

  • Canned fruits, opened

  • Fruit juices, opened

  • Fresh fruits, uncut

  • Butter, margarine

  • Grated Parmesan, Romano, or combination (in can or jar)

  • Processed cheeses

  • Hard cheeses: Cheddar, Colby, Swiss, Parmesan, provolone, Romano

For most frozen foods, except for ice cream and frozen yogurt, if it contains ice crystals and still has a cold feel as though it was refrigerated, it is safe for refreezing; but that doesn’t apply to all frozen foods when they have melted down.

Here’s the frozen foods that can be refrozen or tossed in the trash if thawed and held above 40 degrees Fahrenheit for more than two hours, according to USDA:

Discard

  • Meat, poultry, seafood – all types of cuts

  • stews, soups

  • Milk

  • Eggs (out of shell) and egg products

  • Ice cream, frozen yogurt

  • Cheese (soft and semi-soft)

  • Shredded cheeses

  • Cheesecake

  • Juices

  • Home or commercially packaged or blanched

  • Cakes, pies, pastries with custard or cheese filling

  • Casseroles: pasta, rice-based

  • Frozen meal, entree, specialty item (pizza, sausage and biscuit, meat pie, convenience foods)

Refreeze

  • Hard cheeses

  • Fruit juices

  • Home or commercially packaged fruit

  • Breads, rolls, muffins, cakes (without custard fillings)

  • Pie crusts, commercial and homemade bread dough

  • Flour, cornmeal, nuts

  • Breakfast items: waffles, pancakes, bagels

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