If your fridge loses power for 12 hours, is the food inside safe?

tomatoey
tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
edited November 9 in Food and Nutrition
I didn't get a chance to see what state it was in at the 12-hr point before the fridge/freezer started working again and things got back to whatever state they were in originally. Frozen things might have been partially unfrozen and refrozen.. obviously you don't eat things that were completely defrosted, but what can happen in 12 hours if you don't open the door?

Replies

  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    edited December 2014
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    I am not an an expert but I live in a part of the country where storms can knock out power.The gov says to throw out most of it:
    foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/refridg_food.html

    Hard cheese - o.k.
    I would say that eggs, butter, yogurt -- o.k.
  • CarrieCans
    CarrieCans Posts: 381 Member
    I also live in an area that deals with frequent power outages. Usually in the summer when squirrels like to mess inside the transformers.

    Like above poster shows, you can't rely on sight for safety. If it was frozen, partially thawed and then refrozen then it will most likely take on a bad taste. These items tend to get a lot of ice crystals. I would just throw them out. This causes things like frozen veggies to freezer burn easier and then they taste horrible.

    In the summer we keep our freezer as full as possible so that if the power goes out it stays cold for as long as possible. Even if it means filling up bags of ice or bottles of ice to fill in spaces. Full freezers stay colder for longer.

    12 hours means the temp got warmer then if you thawed the items safely in the fridge.

    When in doubt throw it out.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I'd keep cheeses and probably get rid of the rest.
  • Follow_me
    Follow_me Posts: 6,120 Member
    This is interesting. I've had power off for longer than 4 hrs and the food was fine. I'm going to do an experiment. I'll turn off my fridge and put my wireless grill thermometer in there. I'll monitor the temp and see how long it takes to get over 40 degrees.
  • NicoleisQuantized
    NicoleisQuantized Posts: 344 Member
    Follow_me wrote: »
    This is interesting. I've had power off for longer than 4 hrs and the food was fine. I'm going to do an experiment. I'll turn off my fridge and put my wireless grill thermometer in there. I'll monitor the temp and see how long it takes to get over 40 degrees.

    ^I would be very interested to know those results.
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    Follow_me wrote: »
    This is interesting. I've had power off for longer than 4 hrs and the food was fine. I'm going to do an experiment. I'll turn off my fridge and put my wireless grill thermometer in there. I'll monitor the temp and see how long it takes to get over 40 degrees.

    how often does the motor kick in? usually after about 20 minutes is average. Maintaining the temperature depends on the quality/condition of the door seal and the volume of the contents. A fridge with very little in it will lose temperature faster than a full fridge and a worn or damaged door seal will lose temp quickly.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    Follow_me wrote: »
    This is interesting. I've had power off for longer than 4 hrs and the food was fine. I'm going to do an experiment. I'll turn off my fridge and put my wireless grill thermometer in there. I'll monitor the temp and see how long it takes to get over 40 degrees.

    Woot!! Awesome!! Science :D

    I'd have thought that the cold might hang on for a while, given it's insulated, the items themselves are cold, etc., but obviously no idea how long it would take.

    Thank you everyone!

    I'll be sad if I have to throw out my frozen chicken chorizo rice :/
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    I'd probably toss seafood and any leftovers, and probably pass any ground meats to my dog. Other than that, it should be fine. PArticularly if you kept it closed the entire time. Fridges are very well insulated.

    All the frozen stuff should be good to go too.
  • dswolverine
    dswolverine Posts: 246 Member
    It also depends on how full your freezer was when the power died. If it was stuffed, it keeps longer
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    All right. My fridge and freezer were pretty full :) Shrimps and ground beef out, chicken chorizo in. I'll report on any ill health.
  • apparations
    apparations Posts: 264 Member
    The food is only unsafe if it was held above 4 degrees Celcius (or 40 degrees farenheit) for more than 4 hours. So if you kept the fridge closed and your fridge was quite cold to begin with, you're probably OK. Condiments and etc I'm sure are fine... do the sniff test. As far as the freezer, if it's partially defrosted, either eat it or toss it, don't refreeze-- it will become freezer burnt.
  • apparations
    apparations Posts: 264 Member
    Always a good idea to keep a thermometer in there.
  • MaryCS62
    MaryCS62 Posts: 266 Member
    Whenever we've been on vacation, we always check the ice cube bucket when we come back. If the cubes are sticking together, there was possibly power outage (some melting). If you have a block of ice, you lost enough power for them to melt altogether, & everything else may have defrosted.
    We lost power for 3 days after Superstrom Sandy 2 years ago, & when we went to check our big freezer, a lot of the meat was still frozen through. We dumped the frozen vegetables, ice cream, & anything that was completely defrosted. Anything partially defrosted was cooked & refrozen. Anything completely frozen was put back in the freezer that way. We had no problems at all with any of our meat.
  • lemon629
    lemon629 Posts: 501 Member
    edited December 2014
    It takes a long time for a closed refrigerator to go over 40 degrees. Back in October I lost power for a little over 48 hours, and the outdoor temperature was pretty warm (80s). My refrigerator did not go over 40 degrees, although it was in the mid/upper 30s at around the 48 hour mark. To be on the safe side, I did throw away mayonnaise and a few other ultra sensitive things like that which I don't eat often anyway and thus may have been borderline to begin with.

    I'm willing to bet that none of your food suffered from the power being out for only 12 hours. I don't start to worry until 36 hours.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    A decent fridge that's full should be good for at least 24 hours, as long as you leave it closed.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    Glad to hear it!
  • italysharon
    italysharon Posts: 195 Member
    I throw away practically nothing. I would cook the seafood or toss it though. The rest of it I would go on looks. If it were me though my fridge would have probably needed to be cleaned out before the power went out anyway.
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