Ensure Food Safety When the Power Goes Out
(Cross-posted from the USDA Blog)
Snow, sleet, ice, and wind can wreak havoc on our every day lives. Winter! It’s a fact of modern life: sometimes the power goes out.
If your power goes out, knowing how to keep food safe can help minimize the loss of food and reduce the risk of foodborne illness.
I have put together some helpful power outage guidelines from USDA’s Meat and Poultry Hotline to help you be food safe if your power goes out.
Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed
- A refrigerator will keep food cold for about 4 hours if the door is kept closed.
- A full freezer will keep temperature for about 48 hours (24 hours if half-full). If your freezer is not full, group packages so they form an “igloo” to protect each other. Place them to one side or on a tray so that if they begin thawing, their juices won’t get on other foods.
- If the power is going to be out for an extended period of time, buy dry or block ice to keep the refrigerator as cold as possible. Fifty pounds of dry ice should keep a fully-stocked 18-cubic-feet freezer cold for two days.
Don’t place frozen foods outside in the snow
If your power is out due to a snowstorm, the sun’s rays can thaw frozen food even when the temperature is very cold. In addition, animals could discover your stash. Instead, take advantage of the cold temperatures by making ice outside. Fill buckets, empty milk cartons, or cans with clean water and leave them outside to freeze. Then put the “homemade ice” in your refrigerator, freezer, or coolers.
Keep an appliance thermometer in the refrigerator and freezer
The key to determining the safety of food in the refrigerator and freezer lies in knowing how cold they are. An appliance thermometer will take away the guesswork of just how cold the unit is.
What to do when the power returns
- When the power comes back on, you will have to evaluate each item separately. When in doubt, throw it out. These charts help you evaluate specific foods:
- With frozen food, check for ice crystals! The food in your freezer that partially or completely thaws may be safely refrozen if it still contains ice crystals or is 40 °F or below.
- Discard any food that has an unusual odor, color, or texture, or feels warm to the touch.
- Never taste a food to determine its safety!
For more information about food safety in an emergency, check out these resources:
- In an Emergency (FoodSafety.gov)
- Power Outages: Key Tips for Consumers (FDA)
If you have any other questions, feel free to contact us at the Hotline (1-888-674-6854 toll-free) or online at AskKaren.gov (English and Spanish).
Super Bowl, Slow Cookers, and Food Safety: An Unbeatable Team
For most of the year, my slow cooker stays on the shelf in my kitchen. But, when the Super Bowl approaches, I always pull it out to make chili, meatballs, or other hot party foods. he thing that I love about a slow cooker is that it can cook food safely and help me save time while I’m busy preparing for the big game.
This time of year, the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline receives lots of questions related to slow cooking. Sometimes we hear about really scary mistakes that people make when they’re preparing slow cooked food. To make sure that you and your party guests stay safe, I wanted to share a few of these slow cooker questions and answers.
I placed my meat in the slow cooker and then forgot to turn it on. It was off for 6 hours before I discovered it. Is it still safe? If I cook it, will that destroy any bacteria and make it safe?
Unfortunately, the meat is not safe, even if you cook it. Perishable food left in the “Danger Zone” (between 40 °F and 140 °F) for more than 2 hours should be discarded even though it may look and smell good.
After I made chili in my slow cooker, I poured it in a large bowl and put it in the refrigerator to cool overnight. When I checked it this morning, I noticed that it’s still warm in the center. Is it still safe?
This caller was very disappointed to learn that the chili was not safe. If you’re making a large pot of soup, chili, or stew, store it in shallow containers that enable the food to cool quickly in the fridge. Always refrigerate cooked food within two hours after the cooking is finished. Don’t let it sit on the counter to cool.
Is it safe to reheat food like pork BBQ in a slow cooker?
We do NOT recommend reheating food or leftovers in a slow cooker. Instead, we advise callers to reheat cooked food to steaming on the stove top or in a microwave oven. Then, you can put it into a preheated slow cooker to keep it hot for serving. Use a food thermometer to be sure the food stays at 140 °F. or above.
I usually put my frozen meatballs directly in the slow cooker to start cooking, but my best friend says that’s not safe. Who’s right?
You’re very lucky to have a best friend who is also food safe! Your friend is right. All ingredients that you place into a slow cooker should be thawed first. Keep thawed food and other perishable food refrigerated until you’re ready to start cooking.
For more information about using slow cookers safely, check out these resources:
- Fact Sheet: Slow Cookers and Food Safety
- Podcast: Safe Use of Slow Cookers
If you have any other questions, feel free to contact us at the Hotline (1-888-674-6854 toll-free) or online at AskKaren.gov (English and Spanish).
Homemade Baby Food – Make it Safely
Many parents are discovering that homemade baby foods can be a nutritious and often more economical alternative to baby foods available in stores. To ensure that the food is safe for your growing infant, follow these simple steps for selecting, preparing, and storing food.
Selecting Ingredients
Always begin with good quality ingredients. It’s best to use fresh food whenever possible, but you can also use frozen or canned foods. If you’re using processed fruits and vegetables, try to find products without added sugar, especially canned fruit packed in syrup.
Never feed these products to your baby or use them in homemade baby food:
- Dairy products made from raw, unpasteurized milk (may contain bacteria that can cause serious illnesses)
- Honey (puts your baby at high risk for botulism, a very dangerous illness)
- Home-canned food (may contain harmful bacteria if it was canned improperly)
- Outdated canned food
- Food from dented, rusted, bulging, or leaking cans or jars
- Food from cans or jars without labels
Preparing Baby Food
Because infants are at a higher risk of getting a foodborne illness than older children or healthy adults, it’s particularly important to follow these guidelines carefully:
- Wash your hands and any equipment used to prepare the food.
- Use separate cutting boards for meat, poultry and fish and for non-meat foods to avoid cross-contamination.
- Wash fresh fruits and vegetables thoroughly under clean, running water. Even if you plan to peel a fruit or vegetable, such as cantaloupe or squash, be sure to wash it first.
- Store raw meats, poultry, fish, and dairy products in the coldest part of the refrigerator immediately after purchase.
- Cook meat, poultry, and fish thoroughly to kill any bacteria that might be present. Be sure to use a meat thermometer and cook all meats to an internal temperature of at least 160 ºF, fish to at least 145 ºF, and all white meat poultry to an internal temperature of at least 165 ºF. Check the Minimum Cooking Temperatures chart to be sure.
Storing and Reheating Baby Food
First and foremost: always throw away any uneaten leftover food in the baby’s dish!
Other ways to keep your baby’s food safe:
- Never allow cooked food to stand at room temperature for more than 2 hours (or more than one hour when the temperature is above 90 degrees)
- Do not store prepared baby food in the refrigerator for more than 24 hours for meat, poultry, fish, and eggs or more than 48 hours for fruits and vegetables.
- Thoroughly reheat refrigerated or frozen food to an internal temperature of 165 ºF.
- Never defrost baby foods by leaving them at room temperature or in standing water.
To freeze prepared baby food safely, put it into labeled and dated containers. You may freeze it for up to one month.
For more information, check these resources:
- Baby Food and Infant Formula (FoodSafety.gov)
Get the basics on baby food safety. - Home-Prepared Baby Food (USDA)
This booklet provides excellent tips on preparing all sorts of baby foods.