Food Safety
Do not eat any food
that may have come into contact with flood water. Discard any food
without a waterproof container if there is any chance that it has come
into contact with flood water. Undamaged, commercially canned foods can
be saved if you remove the can labels, thoroughly wash the cans, and
then disinfect them with a solution consisting of one cup of bleach in 5
gallons of water. Relabel your cans, including expiration date, with a
marker. Food containers with screw-caps, snap-lids, crimped caps (soda
pop bottles), twist caps, flip tops, and home canned foods should be
discarded if they have come into contact with flood water because they
cannot be disinfected. For infants, use only
pre-prepared canned baby formula that requires no added water, rather
than powdered formulas prepared with treated water.
Frozen and
Refrigerated Foods
If your refrigerator
or freezer may be without power for a long period:
-
Divide
your frozen foods among friends' freezers if they have electricity;
-
Seek
freezer space in a store, church, school, or commercial freezer that
has electrical service; or
-
Use
dry ice -- 25 pounds of dry ice will keep a 10-cubic-foot freezer
below freezing for 3-4 days. (Exercise care when handling dry ice,
because it freezes everything it touches. Wear dry, heavy gloves to
avoid injury.)
Thawed food can
usually be eaten or refrozen if it is still "refrigerator cold," or if
it still contains ice crystals. To be safe, remember, "When in doubt,
throw it out." 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.
Your refrigerator
will keep foods cool for about 4 hours without power if it is unopened.
Add block or dry ice to your refrigerator if the electricity will be off
longer than 4 hours. |
