HOUSTON (CW39) Millions of people have gone out of power in Texas, but as more lights go on, it’s important to make sure the food in the fridge and freezer is still safe to eat.
Ideally, the refrigerator should be 40 ° F or lower and the freezer should be 0 ° F or lower. When the power goes out, try not to open the door to keep the temperature stable.
According to Centers for Disease Control, with the door closed, food safe for four hours in the refrigerator, 48 hours in the full freezer and 24 hours in the half freezer. People can put perishable food in the cooler with ice, frozen wrap or even snow to extend that time.
“When in doubt, throw it out,” says the CDC. Here are some basic tips from the CDC on what to do once the power is back on:
- Don’t taste food to determine if it’s safe to eat. Do not throw away foods with unusual odors, colors, or textures
- Check the temperature of the food (some refrigerators and freezers have a built-in thermometer). Throw anything over 40 ° F in the refrigerator. If frozen food is still below 40 ° F, it can be re-frozen or safely cooked.
Foodsafety.gov also has a handy list of what to do with certain foods if the temperature is above 40 ° F for more than two hours:
Meat, poultry, seafood
- Throw away raw or leftover cooked meat, poultry, fish or seafood; substitute for soy meat
- Throw away defrost meat or poultry
- Throw away salad with meat, tuna, shrimp, chicken or egg
- Throw away sauces, stuffing or broth
- Throw away lunch, hot dogs, bacon, sausage, dry beef
- Throw away pizza with any toppings
- Throw away canned ham labeled “refrigerate” or opened canned meat or fish
- Throw away casseroles, soups or stews
Cheese, milk and eggs
- Throw away soft cheeses such as blue / bleu, Roquefort, Brie, Camembert, cottage, cream, Edam, Monterey Jack, Ricotta, mozzarella, Muenster, Neufchatel, queso blanco, queso fresco
- Keep hard cheeses such as Cheddar, Colby, Swiss, Parmesan, provolone, Romano
- Keep processed cheese
- Throw away grated or low-fat cheese
- Keep grated parmesan or romano
- Throw away milk, cream, sour cream, buttermilk, evaporated milk, yogurt, eggnog, soy milk
- Keep butter
- Throw away open baby formula
- Throw away fresh shelled eggs, hard boiled eggs with shells, cooking eggs, egg products
- Throw away custard or quich whatever
Fruit
- Throw away sliced or grated fruit and coconut
- Keep uncut fruit, fruit juices, canned fruit, dried fruit
Sauce, Jam, Jam
- Throw away open mayonnaise, tartar sauce, horseradish if it has been above 50 ° for more than eight hours
- Keep Peanut butter, jelly, relish, taco sauce, mustard, ketchup, olives, pickles
- Keep Worcestershire, soybeans, barbecue, hoisin sauce, and vinegar based dressings
- Throw away open the cream based dressings and open the spaghetti sauce
Breads, cakes, biscuits, pasta, whole grains
- Keep breads, rolls, cakes, muffins, fast food breads, and tortillas
- Throw away fridge biscuits, rolls, cookie dough
- Throw away cooked pasta, rice, potatoes
- Throw away pasta salad with mayonnaise or vinaigrette
- Throw away fresh pasta
- Throw away cheese cake
- Keep waffles, pancakes, bagels
Pies and cakes
- Throw away cream filled cake
- Throw away a pie filled with egg or milk filling
- Keep fruit pie
Vegetables
- Throw away cut fresh vegetables and green vegetables that have been pre-cut, pre-washed and packaged
- Keep fresh, uncut vegetables
- Keep fresh mushrooms, herbs, spices
- Throw away cooked vegetables
- Throw away Tofu
- Throw away open vegetable juice
- Throw away baked potato
- Throw away commercial garlic in oil
- Throw away casseroles, soups and stews
For the freezer, follow the list above if items have been thawed and above 40 ° F for more than two hours. For items that still have ice crystals and feel cold as if refrigerated, these guidelines should be followed:
Meat, poultry, seafood
- Freeze again all cuts of meat, poultry, seafood
- Freeze again stews and soups
Dairy products, eggs
- Freeze again milk (but may have a weird texture afterwards)
- Freeze again eggs and egg products
- Throw away ice cream or frozen yogurt
- Freeze again soft or semi-soft cheese (but may have a strange texture afterward)
- Freeze again hard cheese or grated cheese
- Freeze again cheese cake
Fruit
- Freeze again juice (but discard if mold, yeast-like or slimy odor develops)
- Freeze again packaged fruit (may have a strange texture afterwards)
Vegetables
- Freeze again vegetable juice
- Freeze again packaged vegetables (may lose texture or taste)
Bread and pastries
- Freeze again breads, rolls, muffins, cakes that do not have a custard filling
- Freeze again cakes, pies, pastries with pudding or cheese filling
- Freeze again pie crust and bread dough (may lose quality)
- Freeze again pasta and rice casseroles
- Freeze again flour, corn flour and beans
- Freeze again waffles, pancakes, bagels
- Freeze again frozen meals, appetizers