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East HanoverGreen Risk

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Keeping Food Safe After a Natural Disaster or Power Outage

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Executive Summary

This document provides critical guidelines for keeping food safe following a natural disaster or power outage. It details procedures for identifying and discarding potentially unsafe food, emphasizing the importance of disposing of items exposed to floodwater, those with unusual characteristics, or perishables kept above 40 degrees Fahrenheit for extended periods. Additionally, it offers instructions for safely storing food during power outages and proper hand hygiene in emergency situations, alongside a list of related governmental resources.

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--- Document: Keeping Food Safe After a Natural Disaster or Power Outage Document ---
Keeping Food Safe after a Natural Disaster or Power Outage 
  
Identify and throw away food that may not be safe to eat. 
  
 
Throw away food that may have come in contact with flood or storm water. 
 
Throw away food that has an unusual odor, color, or texture. 
 
Throw away perishable foods (including meat, poultry, fish, eggs and 
leftovers) that have been above 40 degrees Fahrenheit (F) for 2 hours or 
more. 
 
Thawed food that contains ice crystals or is 40 degree F or below can be 
refrozen or cooked. 
 
Throw away canned foods that are bulging, opened, or damaged. 
 
Food containers with screw-caps, snap-lids, crimped caps (soda pop bottles), 
twist caps, flip tops, snap-open, and home canned foods should be discarded 
if they have come into contact with floodwater because they cannot be 
disinfected. 
 
If cans have come in contact with floodwater or storm water, remove the 
labels, wash the cans, and dip them in a solution of 1 cup of bleach in 5 
gallons of water.  Re label the cans with a marker. 
 
Do not use contaminated water to wash dishes, brush your teeth, wash and 
prepare food, wash your hands, make ice, or make baby formula. 
  
Store food safely. 
  
 
While the power is out, keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as 
much as possible. 
 
Add block ice or dry ice to your refrigerator if the electricity is expected to be 
off longer than 4 hours.  Wear heavy gloves when handling ice. 
  
Handle food safely. 
  
 
If there is no water available for hand washing, use alcohol based hand 
sanitizers. 
  
  
Related Resources: 
  
 
USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline:  1-888-MPHotline. 
Available for consumers questions and concerns about food safety. 
 
USDA Alert:  Keeping Food Safe During Flooding and Power Outages 
http://www.usda.gov/2005/08/0340.xml 
 
Hand Hygiene in Emergency Situations 
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/hurricanes/handwashing.asp 
 
Keeping Food Safe in an Emergency, U.S. Department of Agriculture 
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/keeping_food_Safe_during_an_emerg
ency/index.asp