Power Outages: What To Keep and What To Toss

Last week hurricane-force winds swept through Los Angeles, causing a 25-hour power outage in our neighborhood. Fortunately, we didn't suffer much (in fact, it was a rather enjoyable time) but as the hours ticked by, we did worry about the foods in our refrigerator and freezer. We knew that meats and a pan of leftover lasagna would have to go, but what about things like fruit juice and eggs?

According to the USDA, an unopened refrigerator will keep food safely cold for up to 4 hours, while a freezer will maintain food for 48 hours if full, or 24 hours if half full. During the outage we wrapped the refrigerator in a blanket (making sure not to cover the coils in back) to help keep it cool. We also avoided opening the fridge or freezer, going in just once to retrieve foods we could eat right away or that we didn't want sitting around indefinitely.

Once power was restored, we began the task of deciding what to keep and what to toss, using the USDA's Keeping Food Safe During an Emergency as a guide. In addition to tips and FAQs, it has "When to Save and When to Throw It Out" charts that list refrigerated and frozen foods in every category from meat to dairy, fruits, vegetables, condiments, and grains. Juice, we learned, was safe to keep but we'd have to discard the eggs (according to USDA guidelines, anyway; we recall seeing unrefrigerated eggs in Europe but that's a subject for another time!).

Bookmark it:
• Keeping Food Safe During an Emergency (USDA)

More tips from The Kitchn:
• Power Outages: How to Tell If Your Freezer Defrosted
• Are Any Condiments Safe to Keep After a Power Outage?

(Image: Flickr member Greencolander licensed under Creative Commons)

Comments (9)

We lost power for 10 days last month and tossed everything; a few days later it went out for 9 hours, and we didn't pitch anything. I think the USDA, on some level, over-worries for us.

Our power frequently goes out for 8 hours (we are in Honduras), and we found out in this time, if you don't open the fridge, everything will be fine. We usually do throw out opened milk and yogurt and meat, but we've never gotten sick from anything else that we've kept. We do make sure to fully cook/boil for 5 minutes any products that were in the fridge to kill any bacteria.

Eggs are never refrigerated here, at the store or in people's houses. They do the same in Australia. There is no problem with them.

Eggs in the US have to be refrigerated because they are power-washed, a practice not done anywhere else in the world. There's a membrane that coats the unwashed eggs, providing a good protective barrier to bacteria. This allows them to be left unrefigerated. I think the USDA mandates washing because of the risk of salmonella contamination, which appears to be quite low, but I guess Big Brother doesn't want to take any chances.

@ATN654 Interesting ... I wonder if this is the case with farmers' market eggs?

@atn654

That is so good to know. Do you happen to know if they do this in Canada? What a great bit of info to have though!

@Emily, it depends on the farmer. Some of the farmers where I live sell eggs labeled as unwashed. They explain that these eggs will keep longer (the natural protective coating is still intact, as ATN654 explained) and, of course, they advise washing the eggs off with water before using. Unwashed eggs sell for a little less than washed eggs.

@QChan, if your eggs are refrigerated, then they've been washed. If they're on the shelf next to the bread, then they haven't been. I'm not sure about Canada since it's been years since I've been there.

@Emily Ho, I would ask the vendor.

We still haven't had power returned to us in Pasadena. We are going on 7 days now. All food is long gone. We're actually at a hotel room tonight as temperatures have been in the high 30's the last few nights. Any suggestions for restocking, if and when we get our power back.

I know this post is a little old, but I hope this helps. Many power companies allow you to file a claim to replace your groceries. Here is PG&E's claim policy: http://www.pge.com/claims/