GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – With well over 100,000 West Michigan residents without power due to Friday morning’s storms, many people are worried about the food stored in their refrigerators.
The Kent County Health Department and the Ottawa County Department of Public Health say that to keep you food safe longer, keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible.
Two Hours
Refrigerated items that have been exposed to temperatures above 40 degrees for more than two hours should be thrown away.
Four Hours
Overall, if the power is out for less than four hours, food in your refrigerator will be as safe as it was before the outage. If the outage is predicted to last more than four hours, you should pack items like milk, eggs, meat, fish, poultry and other dairy products into a cooler with ice.
24 Hours
If you have a half-full freezer, the food should stay frozen for about 24 hours.
48 Hours
If you have a full freezer, the food should stay frozen for about 48 hours.
Keeping the doors closed will help keep all the food frozen longer.
