{"id":1089,"date":"2016-06-17T17:34:29","date_gmt":"2016-06-17T17:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/?page_id=1089"},"modified":"2025-08-06T16:05:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T20:05:10","slug":"food-safety","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/severe-weather-preparedness\/food-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"Food Safety"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>In the case of an electrical outage, it&#8217;s important to take careful precautions to ensure food safety.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The risk of food poisoning is heightened when refrigerators and ovens are inoperable. Discard any food that has been at room temperature for two hours or more, and any food that has an unusual odor, color or texture. Just remember, \u201cWhen in doubt, throw it out!\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Tips for keeping food safe:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Always keep a thermometer in your refrigerator. The temperature should read 41 F or below.<\/li>\n<li>Keep the\u00a0refrigerator and freezer doors closed\u00a0as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature.\n<ul>\n<li>The\u00a0refrigerator\u00a0will keep food\u00a0cold for about 4 hours\u00a0if it is unopened.<\/li>\n<li>A\u00a0full freezer\u00a0will keep the temperature for approximately\u00a048 hours\u00a0(24 hours if it is half full) if the door remains closed.<\/li>\n<li>Buy\u00a0dry or block ice\u00a0to keep the refrigerator as cold as possible if the power is going to be out for a prolonged period of time. Fifty pounds of dry ice should hold an 18-cubic foot fully-stocked freezer cold for two days.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>If you plan to eat refrigerated or frozen meat, poultry, fish or eggs while it is still at safe temperatures, it&#8217;s important that each item is\u00a0thoroughly cooked to the proper temperature\u00a0to assure that any foodborne bacteria that may be present is destroyed. However, if at any point the food was above 40 \u00b0F for 2 hours or more \u2014 discard it.<\/li>\n<li>Wash fruits and vegetables\u00a0with water from a safe source before eating.<\/li>\n<li>For infants, try to use prepared, canned baby formula that requires no added water. When using concentrated or powdered formulas, prepare with bottled water if the local water source is potentially contaminated.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Once Power is Restored:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Thawed food can usually be eaten if it is still \u201crefrigerator cold.\u201d Check the temperature when the power comes back and if the freezer thermometer reads 40\u00b0F or below, the food is safe and may be refrozen.<\/li>\n<li>Discard any perishable food (such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs or leftovers) that has been above 40\u00b0F for two hours or more.<\/li>\n<li>Perishable food such as meat, poultry, seafood, milk, and eggs that are\u00a0not kept adequately refrigerated or frozen\u00a0may cause illness if consumed, even when they are thoroughly cooked.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Practice Safe Food Handling:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>A full cooler or freezer will maintain its cold temperatures longer than one that is partially filled, so it is important to pack plenty of extra ice or freezer packs to insure a constant cold temperature. If available, 25 pounds of dry ice will keep a 10-cubic-foot freezer below freezing for three to four days. Use care when handling dry ice and wear dry, heavy gloves to avoid injury.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Thawed food can usually be eaten if it is still \u201crefrigerator cold.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Eggs and other foods need to be stored in 41 F or slightly below. Do not eat foods that may have spoiled.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Always wash your hands with soap and water that has been boiled and cooled or disinfected. Wash your hands:\n<ul>\n<li>After using the bathroom or changing a diaper<\/li>\n<li>After handling handle uncooked food<\/li>\n<li>After playing with a pet<\/li>\n<li>After handling garbage<\/li>\n<li>After tending to someone who is sick or injured<\/li>\n<li>After blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing<\/li>\n<li>After participating in flood cleanup activities<\/li>\n<li>After handling articles contaminated with flood water or sewage<\/li>\n<li>Before preparing or eating food<\/li>\n<li>Before treating a cut or wound<\/li>\n<li>Before inserting or removing contact lenses<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Fight cross-contamination, which is the transfer of harmful bacteria to food from other foods, cutting boards or utensils. Never place any type of food on a plate that previously held raw meat, poultry or seafood.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Use a meat thermometer to ensure that food reaches a safe internal temperature.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Hamburgers and ground meat should be cooked to 160 F.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Poultry should be cooked to 170 F.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Roasts, steaks and other large cuts of beef should be cooked to 145 F (rare) and 160 F (medium).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Fish should be cooked until the meat is opaque and flakes easily.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Use sanitized food and water bowls for your pets and be sure that they do not drink from flood-contaminated surfaces.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For additional food safety information, call the toll-free USDA\/FSIS Meat and Poultry Hotline at (888) 674-6854. Food safety specialists (both English and Spanish speaking) are available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. EDT on weekdays year-round.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the case of an electrical outage, it&#8217;s important to take careful precautions to ensure food safety. The risk of food poisoning is heightened when refrigerators and ovens are inoperable. Discard any food that has been at room temperature for two hours or more, and any food that has an unusual odor, color or texture. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":444,"featured_media":14830,"parent":81,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1089","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Food Safety - Newsroom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/severe-weather-preparedness\/food-safety\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Food Safety - Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the case of an electrical outage, it&#8217;s important to take careful precautions to ensure food safety. 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