In regard to weather events, we have been lucky so far in the Lehigh Valley. Floods, tornadoes, and fires have devastated other parts of the country. With the arrival of late summer and fall, the possibility of thunderstorms and hurricanes that create power outages is a reality, and the coming winter could bring snow or ice storms with a similar result. Many times I receive calls about what foods are still safe to eat after loss of refrigeration or power to freezers.  This could occur at a time when no one is available to ask. So clip this information and file it so needed.

During power outages, follow these guidelines for safe handling of food products:

• The food in the refrigerator is safe until the temperature gets above 40 degrees F in the refrigerator. If the temperature remains above 40 for more than 2 hours, some foods should be discarded.
• Food that may cause food-borne illness include meat, poultry, seafood, soft cheeses, milk products, eggs, creamy salad dressings, opened spaghetti sauce, cooked rice, pasta or potatoes, cut melons or cooked vegetables.
• Those that are safe to keep and consume are hard and processed cheeses, margarine, canned or uncut fresh fruit and fruit juices, fresh vegetables, peanut butter, jelly, relish, mustard, ketchup, olives, barbecue sauce, bread or baked products, and spices. Mayonnaise is safe unless held at 50 degrees F for more than 8 hours.
• If the refrigerator will be inoperative for an extended period, consider utilizing ice chests with wet ice for milk and other staples.
• Limit opening and closing of refrigerator or ice chests to maintain the temperature of the foods.
• Without power, a fully loaded freezer will keep food frozen for about 48 hours. A half-full freezer will only keep food frozen for about 24 hours. Meats that still contain ice crystals or have been maintained at 40 degrees F or below for less than 48 hours may be refrozen. Some quality may be lost, but the product is still wholesome. Discard any food that has an unusual color or odor.
• If it looks like the power will be off for a long time, or your freezer will not be repaired for a while, use dry ice. Be sure the room is well ventilated, and never touch dry ice with your bare hands. Place the dry ice on cardboard or small boards on top of packages, and do not open the freezer again except to put in more dry ice or remove it when your freezer is working again.