Virginia Cooperative Extension
Storm-damaged
foods may not be safe to eat. If you have a question about the
safety of any item, dispose of it. Otherwise, keep the following
points in mind:
- Destroy
the following foods if they have been covered by flood waters:
fresh fruits and vegetables; foods in cardboard or paper
cartons; foods in bags, such as rice and flour; foods, liquids
or beverages in crown-capped bottles or containers with
pull-tops, corks or screw caps. This includes canned foods
in glass jars, whether you bought them or canned them yourself.
- Destroy
all foods that were covered by water which may have been
contaminated with industrial waste. This includes those
foods sealed in unopened cans.
- Foods
in sealed cans not fouled by industrial waste may be safe
to eat if the cans don't have bulges or leaks, but you must
first disinfect the cans before you open them.
- To
disinfect cans, remove labels and wash the containers with
soap or detergent. Rinse in a chlorine bleach solution using
two tablespoons of household laundry bleach to each gallon
of water. Rinse containers in clean water, dry and relabel
them. The cans can also be sterilized by covering with water
and boiling for at least 10 minutes.
In
the event of a power failure, frozen or refrigerated foods warmed
to above 40 F for two to three hours may not be safe to eat.
Once-frozen
foods which have thawed completely and warmed to temperatures
above 40 F should be cooked or eaten immediately or discarded.
After cooking, items can be refrozen.
Partially
thawed frozen foods with ice crystals may be safely refrozen.
Breads
can be refrozen as well as fruits and vegetables that are
still at or below 40 degrees.
Discard
all stuffed poultry.
Do not
refreeze frozen dinners that have thawed.
Discard
any meat that has a questionable odor or has reached 40 F
for two hours.
Foods
in a freezer without power may stay frozen from one to three
days, depending on these conditions:
- The
door must remain closed.
- The
freezer must be mostly full.
- The
temperature outside must be moderate.
- The
freezer must be large and well-insulated.
Dry
ice can be placed in a freezer on boards or heavy paper on
top of packages to keep temperatures below freezing. Allow
2.5 to three pounds of dry ice per cubic foot of space. More
will be needed in an upright freezer, because dry ice should
be placed on each shelf. Dry ice can cause burns, don't handle
dry ice with bare hands.
Save
liquids from canned vegetables to substitute for water in
cooked dishes.
Juices
from canned fruits can be used as salad dressing or as a beverage.
If you
can't reach the county Extension office, you can get up-to-date
information on food safety from the USDA Meat and Poultry
Hotline, (800) 535-4555, from 10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern,
Monday through Friday, or the FDA Center for Food Safety and
Applied Nutrition Hotline, (800) 332-4010, from noon to 4
p.m. Eastern, Monday through Friday.
Disclaimer
and Reproduction Information: Information in NASD does not represent
NIOSH policy. Information included in NASD appears by permission
of the author and/or copyright holder. More
NASD Review: 04/2002
Based on
information developed by Clemson Cooperative Extension following
Hurricane Hugo. Revised for Virginia audiences by Virginia Cooperative
Extension.
For
more information, contact your local office of Virginia Cooperative
Extension.
Publication
Number
490-302
,
August 1996
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