Food safety during a power outage: Tips from a Virginia Tech expert

As I’m writing this, Saturday morning, it’s still not too late to think ahead about food safety, with a foot of snow and ice, and then an extended period of record cold, on the way, later this afternoon and into the evening hours.

I mean, your local grocery store may not have been completely ransacked at this point.

We picked up some food-safety tips from Alexis Hamilton, an assistant professor and extension specialist with the Virginia Tech Department of Food Science and Technology, to keep in mind if your power is affected by the storm.

First tip: all is not lost from the moment that your power might go out.

“A fridge or freezer that is adequately sealed can maintain its temperature for a short while,” Hamilton said.

Alright, so, you get some grace, probably not much.

If a power outage extends:

• If an appliance thermometer was kept in the freezer, check the temperature when the power comes back on. If the freezer thermometer reads 40° F or below, the food is safe and may be refrozen.
• If a thermometer has not been kept in the freezer, check each package of food to determine its safety. You can’t rely on appearance or odor. If the food still contains ice crystals or is 40° F or below, it is safe to refreeze or cook.
•  If the power was out for no more than four hours, refrigerated food should be safe as long as the doors were kept closed. When the power comes back on, check the temperature in the refrigerator or of the food. Discard any refrigerated perishable food (such as meat, poultry, seafood, milk, eggs, or leftovers) that has been at refrigerator temperatures above 40°F for four hours or more. Perishable foods with temperatures that are 45°F or below (measured with a food thermometer) should be safe, but should be cooked and consumed as soon as possible.

“The American Red Cross Association recommends that households have a two-week supply of non-perishable and easy to prepare foods at home,” Hamilton said. “This includes shelf-stable ready-to-eat foods, such as cereal and granola bars, but also shelf-stable foods that require rehydrating or cooking, such as instant oatmeal or freeze-dried foods. If you have ready-to-eat refrigerated foods that do not require preparation, for example yogurt or deli meat, you should consume these first as they will spoil fastest in a power outage.”

You should have already taken care of that.

If you’re reading this before the bad weather has hit, go to the store, now, and take what they’ve got.

For more guidance and information on food safety during power outages, Hamilton says that the following are safe resources to turn to:

• The USDA’s power outage food safety chart
• The FDA’s food and water safety guidelines for severe weather