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Health & Nutrition: Food Safety and Quality

My freezer stopped. What should I do and what can I save?

Ordinarily, a fully stocked freezer will keep food frozen for 2 days after losing power. A half-full freezer can maintain freezing power for roughly 1 day. The first thing to find out is how long your freezer will be out. If it can be started again within a safe time, you don't need to do anything. Just resist the temptation to keep looking inside. Each time you open the door, warm air rushes in, reducing the freezer's effectiveness.

However, if it can't be restarted in a day or two, you may want to:

• Divide your food up among friends' freezers.

• Find a store, church, or school freezer that will temporarily accept your food, or, if possible, rent space in a commercial freezer or cold storage plant.

• Put dry ice in your freezer. Place the dry ice on empty shelves in the freezer around the items to be kept frozen - not directly touching the packages themselves. You can also put a layer of cardboard over the freezer items and place the ice on top of the cardboard.

Twenty-five pounds of dry ice should hold a 10 cubic foot full freezer below freezing for 3-4 days. If the freezer is half-full, the same amount of ice will keep it stable for 2-3 days.

Judging food after a freezer thaw - Meat or poultry that still contains ice crystals may safely be refrozen. For meat and poultry products that have been kept in a refrigerator section, though, or have only managed to stay "cool-feeling," cooking is a better option. After you cook these items, you can refreeze them. Throw away any product that has even a slightly unusual color or odor.