Is Your Food Still Safe After a Power Outage?

The two numbers

• Refrigerator: about 4 hours. An unopened fridge holds a safe temperature for roughly four hours. After that, perishables are at risk.
• Full freezer: about 48 hours. A half-full freezer is closer to 24 hours. Grouping food together extends it.

Judge by temperature, not appearance

A food thermometer is the only reliable test. Refrigerated food is generally considered safe if it stayed at or below 40°F. Smell and appearance do not tell you whether bacteria have multiplied.

Throw away, without tasting

• Any perishable food — meat, poultry, fish, eggs, leftovers, soft cheese, milk — that was above 40°F for more than two hours
• Anything with an unusual odour, texture or colour
• Food that contacted floodwater or storm water. This includes sealed packages: containers that touched floodwater cannot be reliably sanitised if they are porous, screw-topped, or crimped.
• Any food in a container that was opened before the water reached it

What survives

• Undamaged, commercially sealed metal cans — remove the label, wash the can, and sanitise it before opening
• Unopened shelf-stable items that never got wet
• Whole raw fruit and vegetables that did not contact floodwater, washed