A lot of people are afraid of getting food poisoning after a power failure. But a power cut does not automatically mean food wastage - far from it. Do not throw out the entire contents of your refrigerator. A power outage can last up to 6 hours without affecting the food in your fridge. For your freezer, this time can go up to as much as 48 hours without having any impact on your frozen food. That gives you plenty of time!
Always make sure your fridge temperature is between 0 and 4°. If it is, your food products will keep perfectly cool for 4 to 6 hours provided you don’t open the fridge door.
N.B. The better stocked your fridge, the longer your food products will keep fresh.
Keep | Bin |
Hard cheese, processed cheese | Soft cheese, cream cheese |
Butter, margarine | Milk, cream, crème fraiche, yoghurt (opened) |
Yoghurt | Dishes and desserts prepared with raw eggs and cooked eggs |
Eggs |
Vegetable juice (opened), fresh fruit juice, cooked vegetables (including soups), processed raw fruit and vegetables |
Whole fresh fruit and vegetables | Dishes and products prepared with meat, poultry, fish and seafood, whether raw or cooked |
Pasteurised fruit juice | All ready meals and leftovers |
The temperature should go no higher than -18°. This will keep the foods frozen for 48 hours, as long as you do not open your freezer door and your freezer is properly stocked. Frozen foods keep each other cold, which helps them keep longer. Having said that, if the freezer is only half-stocked, the foods will remain frozen for 24 hours.
For refreezing | For quick consumption | To be binned |
Food products with the centre still hard |
Blocks of hard cheese |
Dishes and products prepared with meat, poultry, fish, seafood, dairy products, defrosted eggs... |
Defrosted raw foods as long as their temperature did not exceed 4°, but only after you have been cooked them | Bread, muffins, pastry without cream filling and defrosted fruit | ...whether raw or cooked! |
Source: bulletin de l'Agence Fédérale pour la Sécurité de la Chaîne Alimentaire
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