Power outtage--do we really have to throw it all away?

[Anonymous]

I know the freezer is fine. But milk? Eggs? Cheese? FDA says over 4 hours and toss it. Is that really necessary? We didn't open our fridge at all once the power went out.

[Anonymous]

No, keep everything. It’s all fine.

- microbiologist.

[Anonymous]

No way. Not throwing away anything

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, keep everything. It’s all fine.

- microbiologist.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Keeping everything..

[Anonymous]

I’m not throwing anything out.

[Anonymous]

Just be cautious and try stuff before you out it into recipes. I found some stuff that I did not expect to go bad (frozen cheese ravioli) went really bad and other stuff was totally fine.

[Anonymous]

You did not say how long the power was out for.

[Anonymous]

Four hours means four hours at room temp. if you never opened the fridge, it never got close to room temp.

It's fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Four hours means four hours at room temp. if you never opened the fridge, it never got close to room temp.

It's fine.

This. The food in your fridge is fine.

[Anonymous]

I agree mostly with the above posters with the caveat that you didn't say how long the power was out. Was it out for 12 hours or 4? If 12 I would be a lot more nervous.

[Anonymous]

Not OP, but my power was out for 5.5 hours. Fridge never opened. I am assuming stuff is OK. Son drank milk today and said it tasted fine. I ate yogurt for breakfast, and so far so good. I am not throwing anything out.
The key for me is to revisit the urge to open the fridge or freezer for any reason.

[Anonymous]

Life hack.

Freeze water in a cup, put coin on top, put in freezer.

After power outage if the coin is not on top you know it defrosted and froze again.

This is obviously for longer outages

[Anonymous]

I kept everything, drank the milk and so far I’m still here.

[Anonymous]

It’s fine!!