Steps to Take
Keeping Food Safe

The following information will help you keep food safe and fresh during an outage.

• Food will stay frozen about two days in a full freezer, if only half full, about one day. 
• Keep the freezer door closed. Every time you open the freezer door, you let in warm air that will speed thawing.  
• In the case of a prolonged outage, you may want to use dry ice to keep food frozen and cover the freezer with blankets or quilts.  
• Wear gloves when handling dry ice and place it on cardboard in the freezer to protect the food.  
• Remember that pork, poultry, fish and hamburger, spoil quickly at temperatures above 40 degrees. Other quick spoiling foods include custards, creamed foods or any foods containing mayonnaise. Cooked meals and cured meats will keep for several days.
• Keep refrigerator door openings to a minimum.  
• When power is restored, check foods for signs of thawing. Frozen foods that have maintained a temperature of 40 degrees or less for up to two days are usually safe. Meats with ice crystals still on them are also safe. 
• Discard any food that is off-color or smells bad. Never taste foods to determine their condition. When in doubt, throw it out