7 Things You Need To Do With Your Food When You Lose Power
With Hurricane Irma currently moving over Florida, more than a million Floridians have already lost power, and many more could soon be impacted.
In anticipation of power outages, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services tweeted out food safety tips this morning. Here are the top rules to follow in order to keep food preserved as long as possible and avoid eating spoiled food. And if you're worried about power going out soon, group foods together in the freezer ASAP; the "igloo effect" will keep them cold longer, according to the USDA.
If your power goes out:
Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible. If unopened, a fridge should keep food cold for up to four hours, and a full freezer will keep things cold for 48 hours. The less you open it, the longer food will remain cold.
Dry or block ice can be used to keep a refrigerator cold. Of course, you'd need to have bought this in advance, but it's a good tip to remember for the future. According to the FDACS, 50 pounds of dry ice should keep an 18-cubic-foot full freezer cold for two days.
Discard meat, poultry, and fish that has been above 40° F for more than two hours.
Once power comes back:
Check the appliance thermometer, if you have one. Food should be safe if the freezer reads 40° F or below.
If you didn't have a thermometer in the fridge, check each piece of food individually, but don't rely on color or odor alone. The appearance of ice crystals is a good sign, and the food is below 40° F, it can safely be eaten or frozen again.
Check the time. If it's been more than 4 hours, the food inside is likely not safe to eat.
Look for the quarter. If you used the quarter-in-a-mug trick, take a look at your cup. If the quarter is still on top, that means the freezer's contents stayed frozen, and are safe to eat.
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