healthcare informatics Lindsay Malone, RD - Power is Out: How Long Before Food Goes Bad?

Cleveland Clinic News Service - April 8, 2017

A massive thunderstorm, a windy day, or even just one downed power line can leave folks in the dark for hours.

But when scavenging for flashlights and batteries during a power outage, does anyone stop and add up how many hours their food has been sitting in the refrigerator?

According to Lindsay Malone, R.D., of Cleveland Clinic, the amount of time that food has before it goes bad during an outage might be shorter than most people think.

“As long as the time is less than four hours, the food inside your refrigerator should be okay,” said Malone. “For the freezer it’s more like 24 hours.”

Malone said the most important thing people can do to try to salvage food during an outage is to keep the refrigerator door closed as much as possible. Food in the freezer might last a little longer, closer to forty-eight hours, if it’s packed tightly.

She recommends that if you know it’s going to be more than four hours before power is restored, to try moving refrigerated items to the freezer to keep them cooler longer.


Malone said most foods can be checked by smelling them, but that it’s never a good idea to taste a food to see if it’s spoiled.

Items such as milk and raw meat will spoil quicker than most, so it’s especially important to adhere to the four hour rule with these.

Because it’s harmful to eat foods that have developed bacteria, Malone said a good rule of thumb is ‘when in doubt, throw it out.’

“Some people will experience some mild symptoms like nausea, vomiting, but in more severe cases if bacteria has been growing for a while or if you have someone with a sensitive immune system; very young, very old or a compromised immune system; the effects could be more severe,” said Malone.

Malone says the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a food safety section on their website where people can search specific foods to find out more information about when it’s time to throw them out.

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healthcare informatics Lindsay Malone, RD - Power is Out: How Long Before Food Goes Bad?
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