Power cut - Should I throw out fridge food?

ripplyuk

I'd just done a big shop and the power was off when I got home for about 3 hrs. Then it went off again at about 10.30pm (and I opened the fridge briefly, without thinking). It was back on when I woke up this morning but I have no idea how long it was off for.

Should I throw everything out? It'll waste a lot of groceries/money, but I don't want to end up with food poisoning.

[Deleted User]

NOOOOOOOO don't throw it all away!!! it should all be fine if the fridge has been kept closed throughout the power out period. The fact that you only opened the door once won't have changed the fridge interior temperature and if the power is back on now your contents will be perfectly OK! Even freezers will go 48ish hours and still stay frozen, you'll be fine!

trailingspouse

Just revert to the old sniff test - if it smells OK then it probably is OK.

Also, ask yourself - if this food had just been in a cupboard for the last 24 hours, rather than in the fridge, would it be OK? And bear in mind that your fridge will still have been colder than a cupboard, even if not quite as cold as normal. The only things I can think of that might be 'iffy' would be fish and seafood.

monnagran

Listen to the wise words already ringing in your brain.

The fridge takes quite a while to warm up to anything like dangerous levels. Yours won't have long enough to worry about.
Just think, I didn't have a fridge at all until I had been married for over a year. My mother didn't have a fridge until she had been married for 22 years and I had long left home. I don't remember any instances of food poisoning.

ripplyuk

What about the meat? I'm thinking it's more risky. When I got home after shopping and saw the power was off, I didn't want to open the fridge so this meat was sitting out for 3 hrs. There's also ready meals with mince in them.

ripplyuk

trailingspouse wrote: »

Also, ask yourself - if this food had just been in a cupboard for the last 24 hours, rather than in the fridge, would it be OK?.

I'd bin the lot in that case! I don't trust the sniff test. I've read that you often can't tell by just smelling it.

[Deleted User]

You should be fine with the meat too petal, the modern fridge is so well insulated and the weather hasn't been frantically hot of late so I'd use the meat up now by cooking whatever you meant to make with it in advance and perhaps giving that a little extra cooking time to be sure and then freeze the finished product until you want to eat it. Grandma didn't have a fridge and meat must have stood out for 3 hours or longer until the evening meal was cooked and most housewives shopped in the morning, it must have been OK or we wouldn't all be here today having this discussion would we?

dandy-candy

3 hrs out of the fridge is fine. I know people in America who have drives as long as that from the Walmart to their home.

ripplyuk

That's true. I never thought of that. My granny has told me before that they just kept the meat somewhere cool but they didn't have a fridge. It mustn't have been too dangerous because she's never mentioned them getting ill from it. I'll just cook it very thoroughly.

Thank you MrsLurcherwalker.

jackyann

I agree that it should be fine. I would bin anything that was 'on its last legs', and any cooked rice, but the stuff you describe should be fine.
I used to have a fridge thermometer, and you have reminded me what a good idea they are. Domestic fridges are normally 2-4 degrees Centigrade. In the past, during power cuts, I have checked the thermometer and it was below 5 degrees C for about 36 hour, even with occasionally opening the door.

You are correct that the 'sniff test' is not 100% reliable, but it is a good rule for most domestic situations with the kind of food we normally eat. There are a very few toxins that develop (usually at much higher temperatures) and can't always be detected. An example is a cooked chicken dish that has been kept at 30-50 degrees C for some hours. Another example is cooked rice that has been kept warm then reheated.

I do reheat cooked rice, but only if I have chilled it very quickly, and only for healthy adults.

gt568

Send it all to me, I'll test it for you.