How to tell if your food is spoiled after a power outage

AUSTIN (KXAN) — After a power outage, it’s important to make sure food in refrigerators and freezers are still safe to eat.

Ideally, refrigerators should be at 40°F or below and freezers should be at 0°F or below. When the power goes out, try not to open doors to keep that temperature stable.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, with closed doors, food is safe for four hours in a refrigerator, 48 hours in a full freezer and 24 hours in a half freezer. People can put perishable foods in a cooler with ice, frozen packs or even snow to extend that time.

“When in doubt, throw it out,” the CDC said. Here are some basic tips from the CDC on what to do once the power comes back on:

Don’t taste food to determine if it’s safe to eat. Do throw out any food with an unusual smell, color or texture
Check temperatures of food (some refrigerators and freezers have thermometers inside). Throw out anything that’s above 40°F in the fridge. If frozen items are still below 40°F, they can safely be refrozen or cooked.

Foodsafety.gov also has a helpful list of what to do with specific food items if they’ve been above 40°F for more than two hours:

Meat, poultry, seafood

Discard raw or leftover cooked meat, poultry, fish, or seafood; soy meat substitutes
Discard thawing meat or poultry
Discard salads with meat, tuna, shrimp, chicken or eggs
Discard gravy, stuffing or broth
Discard lunchmeats, hot dogs, bacon, sausage, dried beef
Discard pizza with any toppings
Discard canned hams labeled with “keep refrigerated” or any opened canned meat or fish
Discard casseroles, soups or stews

Cheese, dairy and eggs

Discard soft cheeses like blue/bleu, Roquefort, Brie, Camembert, cottage, cream, Edam, Monterey Jack, ricotta, mozzarella, Muenster, Neufchatel, queso blanco, queso fresco
Keep hard cheeses like Cheddar, Colby, Swiss, Parmesan, provolone, Romano
Keep processed cheeses
Discard shredded or low-fat cheeses
Keep grated parmesan or romano
Discard milk, cream, sour cream, buttermilk, evaporated milk, yogurt, eggnog, soy milk
Keep butter
Discard opened baby formula
Discard fresh shell eggs, eggs hard-cooked in shell, egg dishes, egg products
Discard any custards or quiches

Fruit

Discard cut fruit and sliced or shredded coconut
Keep uncut fruit, fruit juice, canned fruit, dried fruit

Sauces, Spreads, Jams

Discard opened mayonnaise, tartar sauce, horseradish if they’ve been above 50° for more than eight hours
Keep peanut butter, jelly, relish, taco sauce, mustard, ketchup, olives, pickles
Keep Worcestershire, soy, barbecue, hoisin sauces and opened vinegar-based dressings
Discard opened creamy-based dressings and opened spaghetti sauce

Bread, cakes, cookies, pasta, grains

Keep bread, rolls, cakes, muffins, quick breads and tortillas
Discard refrigerator biscuits, rolls, cookie dough
Discard cooked pasta, rice, potatoes
Discard pasta salads with mayonnaise or vinaigrette
Discard fresh pasta
Discard cheesecake
Keep waffles, pancakes, bagels

Pies and pastry

Discard cream filled pastries
Discard pies with filling containing eggs or milk
Keep fruit pies

Vegetables

Discard cut fresh vegetables and pre-cut, pre-washed and packaged greens
Keep uncut fresh vegetables
Keep fresh mushrooms, herbs, spices
Discard cooked vegetables
Discard tofu
Discard opened vegetable juice
Discard baked potatoes
Discard commercial garlic in oil
Discard casseroles, soups and stews

When it comes to the freezer, follow the list above if items have become thawed and above 40°F for more than two hours. For items that still have ice crystals and feel cold like they’ve been refrigerated, it has these guidelines to follow:

Meat, poultry, seafood