What food you should keep – or toss – after a power outage

After a long power outage like the one in southwest Saskatchewan, residents will definitely want to give their freezer items a close inspection before putting them on the dinner table.

“The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) reminds residents to take extra precautions to ensure frozen or refrigerated food is safe after a power outage,” the SHA said in an email.

“It is important to recognize that extended power outages can affect the safety of food in refrigerators and freezers.”

The SHA said any foods like raw meat, poultry, fish or seafood, milk, cheeses, soups and salads should be thrown out if they’ve been stored above 4 C for more than two hours. Other dairy products, cold cuts, casseroles, potatoes and pasta also make the list.

Frozen foods should be kept at -18 C. Foods like vegetables, fish, ice cream and other frozen foods that have thawed should be thrown out because of how quickly bacteria can multiply.

Partially thawed foods with ice crystals can be safely frozen again, but that might affect the quality of the item.

Fruits that still look good can be refrozen.

“When in doubt, throw it out,” the SHA recommended.

Disposal and cleaning

If food must be thrown away, the type and amount of each food should be documented along with the reason for disposal so that information can be provided to regulators and insurance companies.

To prevent small amounts of food thrown away from being eaten, it is recommended that they are treated with a cleaning product like bleach. When disposing of large amounts of food, the SHA said to contact a garbage disposal company or local landfill operator for instructions.

Erin Hiebert, manager of food safety with the Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre, described ways to preserve food in a power outage that will last longer than a few hours.

“If your power has been out for a number of days, especially, I know now with the rise of cost of food, it’s quite worrisome if you’ve got food that’s going to waste,” Hiebert said.

“Put it in a cooler and then fill that cooler with snow. Or, if you have cold water, access to cold water, you could certainly add cold water to the cooler.”

She said it’s important to be mindful of cross-contamination if using snow, however. Hiebert recommended putting food in a leak-proof bag or container.

After an incident like a power outage, refrigerators and freezers in stores, daycares, schools and other public facilities should be cleaned and sanitized after food is discarded and before new food is introduced to prevent cross contamination.

The interiors of freezers and racks should be washed with water and detergent, then sanitized with a solution of household bleach and water before being wiped with a clean cloth. The SHA noted the bleach mixture should not be combined with other cleaning products and any leftover should be poured down a sink drain.

Refrigerators can be restocked or refilled again once reaching a temperature of 4 C, while freezers must reach -18 C.