Food Safety When the Fridge Fails

When in doubt, throw it out. Do not taste food to test it.

The numbers

	Time with doors closed	Target temperature
Fridge	About 4 hours	At or below 40°F (4°C)
Full freezer	About 48 hours	At or below 0°F (-18°C)
Half-full freezer	About 24 hours	At or below 0°F (-18°C)

US and Canadian agencies agree on these. Keep a thermometer in each.

The rule that decides

Throw out perishable food that has been above 40°F (4°C) for 2 hours or more, or for 1 hour if it is above 90°F (32°C). Health Canada also says to throw out food left at room temperature for 2 or more hours.

Some US pages say 4 hours (FDA and one Ready.gov sheet) and others say 2 (FoodSafety.gov and a newer Ready.gov page). The 4 hours refers to how long a closed fridge stays cold. I use the stricter 2 hours once the food is warm.

Keeping it cold longer

• Keep doors shut. Put food in a cooler with ice if the outage will last more than 4 hours.
• Never store food outdoors or in snow, as Ready.gov notes.
• Dry ice: FDA says 50 lb (23 kg) keeps a full 18 cu ft (510 L) freezer cold for 2 days. Ready.gov says 25 lb (11 kg) keeps a 10 cu ft (283 L) freezer below freezing for 3 to 4 days. Wear dry, heavy gloves and keep it from touching food.

Fridge food above 40°F (4°C) for more than 2 hours

Keep	Throw out
Hard cheese, processed cheese	Soft cheese, shredded cheese
Butter, margarine	Milk, cream, yogurt, soy milk, opened formula
Uncut fresh fruit and vegetables	Cut fruit and vegetables, bagged greens
Peanut butter, jelly, mustard, ketchup, pickles, soy sauce, vinegar dressings	Opened creamy dressings, opened spaghetti sauce, fish sauce
Bread, cakes, muffins, tortillas, fruit pies	Cream pies, cooked pasta, rice or potatoes, cookie dough
	All meat, poultry, fish, deli meat, eggs, leftovers, soups, stews, casseroles

Opened mayonnaise and tartar sauce: throw out if above 50°F (10°C) for more than 8 hours.

Freezer food

If it still has ice crystals, or is at 40°F (4°C) or below, you can refreeze or cook it. Quality may drop.

Once it has thawed and been above 40°F (4°C) for more than 2 hours, throw out meat, poultry, seafood, milk, egg products, soft cheese, casseroles and frozen meals. Throw out ice cream and frozen yogurt either way. Throw out shredded cheese, cheesecake and custard-filled pastries once thawed. Throw out vegetables and vegetable juice after 6 hours above 40°F (4°C). Hard cheese, breads, flour, nuts, and fruit or juice without mould or a yeasty smell can be refrozen.

These tables are a summary. The full FoodSafety.gov chart, linked in the sources, lists more foods.

Flooded food

Throw out food that touched floodwater unless it is in undamaged, sealed commercial cans or pouches. FDA gives steps to clean those: boil for 2 minutes, or soak 15 minutes in 1 cup (250 mL) of 5.25% unscented bleach per 5 gallons (19 L) of water, then air dry for at least 1 hour.