Keeping Food During an Emergency

Did you know that a flood, fire, national disaster, or the loss of power from high winds, snow, or ice could jeopardize the safety of your food? At this time food will become scarce. However, disasters are not the only time food supply would be useful and appreciated.

Power outages and floods can compromise the quality and safety of stored foods.

Knowing how to determine if food is safe and how to keep food safe will help minimize the potential loss of food and reduce the risk of foodborne illness.

Always keep meat, poultry, fish, and eggs refrigerated at or below 40 °F and frozen food at or below 0 °F. This may be difficult when the power is out.

Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature. Unopened refrigerator can keep food safety cold for up to 4 hours.

If the freezer doors are left closed, a full freezer can hold the temperature for approximately 48 hours.

Obtain dry or block ice to keep your refrigerator as cold as possible if the power is going to be out for a prolonged period of time. Fifty pounds of dry ice should hold an 18-cubic foot full freezer for 2 days. Plan ahead and know where dry ice and block ice can be purchased. Dry ice or a block of ice can be placed in refrigerator if power is out more than 4 hours.

Be prepared for an emergency by having items on hand that don’t require refrigeration and can be eaten cold or heated on the outdoor grill. Shelf-stable food, such as boxed or canned milk, water, and canned goods should be part of a planned emergency food supply. Make sure you have ready-to-use baby formula for infants and pet food.

Consider what you can do ahead of time to store your food safely in an emergency. If you live in a location that could be affected by a flood, plan your food storage on shelves that will be safely out of the way of contaminated water.

In the event of a power outages, the refrigerator an freezer doors should be kept closed as much as possible t maintain the cold temperature.

Foods in well filled, well insulated freezer won’t go bad until several days after power goes off.

Digital, dial, or instant-read food thermometers and appliance thermometers will help you know if the food is at safe temperatures. Keep appliance thermometers in the refrigerator and freezer at all times.
Keeping Food During an Emergency