Food Safety During Power Outage

kshama2001

I'm South of Boston and a storm came through that left a big mess here. Unfortunately, the power company's first estimate for power restoration was wildly optimistic, then we were stuck in TBD for most of the day, and I didn't start stuffing ice into the frig and freezer until it the frig was already in the 50's, where it stayed for, I don't know, I'm tired - at least 12 hours. Guess I have to toss all the frig stuff

The freezers, on the other hand, stayed below freezing the whole time.

Refrigerated Food and Power Outages: When to Save It and When to Throw It Out

As the USDA notes in Keeping Food Safe During an Emergency, your refrigerator will keep food safe for up to 4 hours during a power outage. Keep the door closed as much as possible. Discard refrigerated perishable food such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and leftovers after 4 hours without power.

After a power outage never taste food to determine its safety. You will have to evaluate each item separately—use this chart as a guide. When in Doubt, Throw it Out!

Chart here:

https://www.foodsafety.gov/food-safety-charts/food-safety-during-power-outage

406MamaBear

Wow! Sure hope you continue to stay safe. Thanks for the food safety info.

corinasue1143

Thanks for posting. My electricity was off the other day and I wasn’t sure. Looks like I may have erred on the side of throwing away too much, except eggs. But I feel a lot better about it. (I can remember the good old days when people left eggs out in the coolest, darkest part of the house for a week before selling them on Saturday night.)

kshama2001

Yes, in some countries they do not refrigerate eggs at all. IIRC, here in the US, the way the processors wash them makes refrigeration necessary. However, I disregarded the articles advice about eggs and kept mine. I also disregarded the advice about not tasting anything, and tasted the milk and half and half and kept that. The first thing I did when the power came on was make coffee.

It was 57° in here at the time and the heat did not come on. We have a contract for furnace servicing and a tech came out a few hours later. The problem turned out to not be the furnace, but a switch for it on the stairs which must have accidentally been shut off as we were moving stuff down from the attic.

We are selling the house. The movers are coming Monday. No power for a day and a half was not a great timing.

Theoldguy1

We have interruptible power (the utility can turn off power with notice up to 4 hours). Generally a few times during the summer when they experience peak loads but we save about 30% year round on our utility bills.

Guessing the 4 hours with fridge off helped them come up with the 4 hour limit.

earlnabby

kshama2001 wrote: »

Yes, in some countries they do not refrigerate eggs at all. IIRC, here in the US, the way the processors wash them makes refrigeration necessary. However, I disregarded the articles advice about eggs and kept mine. I also disregarded the advice about not tasting anything, and tasted the milk and half and half and kept that. The first thing I did when the power came on was make coffee.

It was 57° in here at the time and the heat did not come on. We have a contract for furnace servicing and a tech came out a few hours later. The problem turned out to not be the furnace, but a switch for it on the stairs which must have accidentally been shut off as we were moving stuff down from the attic.

We are selling the house. The movers are coming Monday. No power for a day and a half was not a great timing.

Kind of like when the hot water line to my shower broke the day I moved in. Nothing like being hot, sweaty, and dirty and looking forward to a hot shower and bed, but only having cold water.

My brother lives in your area and his power was also out for quite a while

kshama2001

earlnabby wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

Yes, in some countries they do not refrigerate eggs at all. IIRC, here in the US, the way the processors wash them makes refrigeration necessary. However, I disregarded the articles advice about eggs and kept mine. I also disregarded the advice about not tasting anything, and tasted the milk and half and half and kept that. The first thing I did when the power came on was make coffee.

It was 57° in here at the time and the heat did not come on. We have a contract for furnace servicing and a tech came out a few hours later. The problem turned out to not be the furnace, but a switch for it on the stairs which must have accidentally been shut off as we were moving stuff down from the attic.

We are selling the house. The movers are coming Monday. No power for a day and a half was not a great timing.

Kind of like when the hot water line to my shower broke the day I moved in. Nothing like being hot, sweaty, and dirty and looking forward to a hot shower and bed, but only having cold water.

My brother lives in your area and his power was also out for quite a while

Where we are moving has lots of pine trees and few people, and is always at the bottom of the list for power restoration. I don't expect the power to be on yet when we move Monday. Since it is well water that needs electricity, there won't even be cold water

I've ordered a whole house generator, but it won't be installed until December. We're moving in with my mother and brother - she is losing her vision and he has special needs. The house has been in the family since the 50's. We are friendly with a neighbor with a whole house generator, and I imagine we can shower there.

So, I managed to save the food in the freezer, but will have no place to put it on Monday

earlnabby

kshama2001 wrote: »

earlnabby wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

Yes, in some countries they do not refrigerate eggs at all. IIRC, here in the US, the way the processors wash them makes refrigeration necessary. However, I disregarded the articles advice about eggs and kept mine. I also disregarded the advice about not tasting anything, and tasted the milk and half and half and kept that. The first thing I did when the power came on was make coffee.

It was 57° in here at the time and the heat did not come on. We have a contract for furnace servicing and a tech came out a few hours later. The problem turned out to not be the furnace, but a switch for it on the stairs which must have accidentally been shut off as we were moving stuff down from the attic.

We are selling the house. The movers are coming Monday. No power for a day and a half was not a great timing.

Kind of like when the hot water line to my shower broke the day I moved in. Nothing like being hot, sweaty, and dirty and looking forward to a hot shower and bed, but only having cold water.

My brother lives in your area and his power was also out for quite a while

Where we are moving has lots of pine trees and few people, and is always at the bottom of the list for power restoration. I don't expect the power to be on yet when we move Monday. Since it is well water that needs electricity, there won't even be cold water

I've ordered a whole house generator, but it won't be installed until December. We're moving in with my mother and brother - she is losing her vision and he has special needs. The house has been in the family since the 50's. We are friendly with a neighbor with a whole house generator, and I imagine we can shower there.

So, I managed to save the food in the freezer, but will have no place to put it on Monday

My brother lives in a small town but it is an area with a lot of small towns (the town with the outlet malls to keep his location somewhat vague) but some bigger companies too so they typically get services restored relatively quick.

kshama2001

earlnabby wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

earlnabby wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

Yes, in some countries they do not refrigerate eggs at all. IIRC, here in the US, the way the processors wash them makes refrigeration necessary. However, I disregarded the articles advice about eggs and kept mine. I also disregarded the advice about not tasting anything, and tasted the milk and half and half and kept that. The first thing I did when the power came on was make coffee.

It was 57° in here at the time and the heat did not come on. We have a contract for furnace servicing and a tech came out a few hours later. The problem turned out to not be the furnace, but a switch for it on the stairs which must have accidentally been shut off as we were moving stuff down from the attic.

We are selling the house. The movers are coming Monday. No power for a day and a half was not a great timing.

Kind of like when the hot water line to my shower broke the day I moved in. Nothing like being hot, sweaty, and dirty and looking forward to a hot shower and bed, but only having cold water.

My brother lives in your area and his power was also out for quite a while

Where we are moving has lots of pine trees and few people, and is always at the bottom of the list for power restoration. I don't expect the power to be on yet when we move Monday. Since it is well water that needs electricity, there won't even be cold water

I've ordered a whole house generator, but it won't be installed until December. We're moving in with my mother and brother - she is losing her vision and he has special needs. The house has been in the family since the 50's. We are friendly with a neighbor with a whole house generator, and I imagine we can shower there.

So, I managed to save the food in the freezer, but will have no place to put it on Monday

My brother lives in a small town but it is an area with a lot of small towns (the town with the outlet malls to keep his location somewhat vague) but some bigger companies too so they typically get services restored relatively quick.

Yes, when I lived in Florida I was right down one street from a hospital and the street other from a police station and always got power back first of anyone I knew.