Keep Your Food Safe During a Power Outage 
Tammy Roberts, MS, RD, LD, Nutrition and Health Education Specialist in Barton County University of Missouri Extension

With winter comes snow, ice, and power outages. If the power is off for very long, you’ll need to know how to keep your food safe. Make a plan now for what you would do if you do find yourself without electricity for an extended period of time so you can manage efficiently and effectively.

Keep the doors of the refrigerator closed as much as possible to allow the air inside to stay cool. Keep a thermometer in the refrigerator so you can monitor the temperature when you do open the door. Food is considered to be in the danger zone once the refrigerator temperature goes above 40 degrees F. Discard foods that have been above 40 degrees for more than two hours. Protein-containing foods such as raw or cooked meat, poultry or seafood, dairy products, eggs and egg substitutes, and soft cheeses are most at risk for illness-causing bacteria growth.

You can add dry ice to your freezer to maintain cold temperatures. Keep in mind that dry ice is -216 degrees F so it must be handled carefully. Always wear gloves when handling dry ice. Allow 2 ½ - 3 pounds of dry ice per cubic foot of freezer space. It is best not to have the dry ice come in direct contact with the food. It can be wrapped in brown paper. If you have an upright freezer, it may take more as dry ice should be placed on each shelf of an upright freezer. If you have a large amount of empty space, fill the space with clean blankets or towels to decrease circulation. Air circulation speeds up dissipation of dry ice. Dry ice creates a gas as it dissipates so stand back when you open the freezer door to let the gas escape.

Generally, food can stay frozen in the freezer one to three days without electricity. Foods in the freezer can be re-frozen if they still have ice crystals present. Thawed foods that have not reached danger zone temperatures can be cooked and then frozen.

If you do happen to have food go bad in the refrigerator or freezer, you’ll want to disinfect it. Mix ¾ cup of liquid chlorine bleach with one gallon of warm water and wipe down all surfaces. Don’t forget the rubber gloves! This should help with odor but if you still have an unwanted odor, you can use activated charcoal. Place three ounces of activated charcoal in an open container in the refrigerator or freezer for 3-6 hours. It’s OK for it to be in there with food. Activated charcoal is expensive but you can re-use it. To get rid of the odor and reactivate it, heat it in a moderate oven. Most literature says to get deactivated charcoal at the drug store. I found it in a pet store in the fish supplies.

I hope this is information you never need to use but cut the article out and put it in a place where you can find it just in case we get a storm that causes an electrical outage.

Last Updated 11/13/2006