'If in doubt, throw it out': Power outages spoil food in fridge and freezer
Nancy Russell | CBC News | Posted: November 30, 2016 9:00 PM | Last Updated: November 30, 2016
Once food reaches 4 C, it becomes at risk of bacteria contamination
If you've been without power since Sunday, you should probably throw out the contents of your fridge and freezer, says a P.E.I. health official.
"The general advice for food that's not at a proper temperature would be, if the food has been at room temperature for two hours or more, that means the food should be discarded, it should be thrown out, it becomes unsafe at that point," said Ryan Neale, manager of environmental health with the Chief Public Health Office for P.E.I.
Once the food reaches above 4 C, there is a risk of bacteria contamination, he said.
"It's not an easy decision to make but when we consider the possibility of food-bourne illness or even an outbreak amongst the family, it's better to discard the food if it's at that dangerous temperature, not really to take any chances," he added.
"If in doubt, throw it out."
Keep your door closed
Neale says the contents of a fridge will stay cold for up to four hours, if you keep the door closed. A half full freezer can hold cold 24 hours, a full freezer for 48 hours.
The power has now been off for more than 72 hours in eastern P.E.I. in particular, so those residents will be out of time.
Neale doesn't recommend putting food outside, where there is now way of monitoring the temperature. His best suggestion is, if it's safe to travel, transporting food that needs to be kept cold to the home of a friend or neighbour who has electricity.
Not just homes
It's not just home owners who have to take care. The same rules apply for restaurants and grocery stores and anywhere else with a fridge or freezer.
"Food premise operators are very diligent in ensuring that the food they're serving their customers is safe and so we have had a number of calls over the years from operators looking for some guidance," said Neale, who has heard of large amounts of food having to be thrown out because of a long power outage.
Neale also advised being careful when throwing out food that has gone bad, especially raw meat, and to clean and disinfect any areas the food has touched.
He cautioned that food contaminated with bacteria does not necessarily smell bad or look like it has spoiled.
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