Freezer and Power Outage Food Safety Guide

Prepare before an outage with appliance thermometers, frozen water containers, coolers and a plan for extended loss of power. Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed.

Official time guidance

FoodSafety.gov states that an unopened refrigerator keeps food cold for about four hours. A full freezer holds temperature for about 48 hours, or about 24 hours when half full, if the door stays closed.

Check temperature and ice crystals

Frozen food may be refrozen or cooked if it still contains ice crystals or is 40°F (4°C) or below, although quality may decline. Evaluate each food using the official chart.

Discard unsafe perishables

Discard perishable refrigerated food after four hours without power and food held above 40°F for more than two hours—or one hour above 90°F—according to current official guidance. Never taste food to test safety.

Do not use outdoor weather as a refrigerator

Outdoor temperatures vary and food may be exposed to animals or contamination. Use safe ice and coolers instead.

Emergency pantry

Maintain shelf-stable no-cook foods so losing refrigerated food does not remove the entire food plan. Survival Tabs can be one sealed shelf-stable layer but cannot make spoiled food safe.