Meal Preparation and Food Safety After a Power Failure

After a power failure, you might not have heat, refrigeration, or water. To prepare food when you have no power, follow these guidelines:

• If you have limited heat for cooking, choose foods that cook quickly. Prepare casseroles and one-dish meals, or serve no-cook foods.

• If you can’t use your stove, you can use a:

– Fireplace.
– Candle warmer, such as a fondue pot. Do not use a candle warmer to cook raw meats, fish, poultry, and eggs.
– Camp stove and charcoal burner. Never use a fuel-burning camp stove or charcoal burner inside your home, even in a fireplace. Fumes from these stoves can be deadly.

• Do not cook frozen foods because they require much more cooking time and heat than canned goods.

• Eat commercially canned foods straight from the can. Do not eat home canned meats and vegetables unless you can boil them for 10 minutes before eating.

• Substitute liquids from canned vegetables for water in unsweetened cooked dishes.

• Substitute juice from canned fruits for water in salads and beverages.

• All water from questionable sources that will be used in food preparation must be boiled for at least 10 minutes before use.

• If you are without refrigeration, open only enough cans or jars of food for one meal. Leftover food in jars and cans cannot be saved.

• If necessary, substitute canned and powdered milk for fresh milk. • Prepare and eat foods in their original containers, if possible.

With the door closed, food in most freezers will stay below 40° F for up to 3 days, even in summer. Thawing rate depends on:

• The amount of food in the freezer.

• The kind of food.

• The temperature of the food.

• The freezer.

• The size of freezer.

You may safely re-freeze foods that still contain ice crystals or that have been kept at 40° F or below.

Adapted by Dr. Angela Fraser, Extension Food Safety Specialist, Family and Consumer Services, North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, NC State University, from University of Florida and Agricultural Sciences’ Disaster Handbook
8/00—JMG