Did you know that a flood, fire, national disaster, or the loss of power from high winds, snow, or ice could jeopardize the safety of your food? Knowing how to determine if food is safe and how to keep food safe will help minimize the potential loss of food and reduce the risk of foodborne illness. This Consumer’s Guide will help you make the right decisions for keeping your family safe during an emergency.

A Consumer’s Guide to Food Safety: Severe Storms and Hurricanes. The illustrated PDF version (2.1MB) is recommended for printing.

• Power Outages
• Safety of Food in Containers Exposed to Flood Waters
• Removing Odors from Refrigerators & Freezers
• Refrigerator Foods
• Frozen Food
• Food Safety Contacts for Areas Affected by Severe Storms and Hurricanes

POWER OUTAGES
We practice basic safe food handling in our daily lives, but obtaining and storing food safely becomes more challenging during a power outage or natural disasters such as hurricanes and floods.

Weather Emergency:
Keep an appliance thermometer in the refrigerator and freezer. An appliance thermometer will indicate the temperature in the refrigerator and freezer in case of a power outage and help determine the safety of the food.

FOOD IN CONTAINERS EXPOSED TO FLOOD WATERS
Discard any food that is not in a waterproof container if there is any chance that it has come into contact with flood water. Food containers that are not waterproof include those with screw-caps, snap lids, pull tops, and crimped caps. Also, discard cardboard juice/milk/baby formula boxes and home canned foods if they have come in contact with flood water, because they cannot be effectively cleaned and sanitized.

A Consumer’s Guide to Food Safety: Severe Storms and Hurricanes. The illustrated PDF version (2.1MB) is recommended for printing.