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Health & Nutrition: Food Safety and Quality

What can I safely do with the food that went through a flood?

Discard:

  • Meat, poultry, fish and eggs

  • Fresh produce

  • Jams/jellies sealed with paraffin

  • Home canned foods

  • Commercial glass jars of food or beverages including "never opened" jars with waxed cardboard seals such as mayonnaise and salad dressing, corks, pop tops, or peel-off tops

  • All foods in cardboard boxes, paper, foil, cellophane or cloth

  • Spices, seasonings and extracts

  • Opened containers and packages

  • Flour, sugar grain, coffee and other staples in canisters

  • Cans dented, leaking, bulging or rusted

Save:

  • Undamaged commercial canned goods are safe if sanitized

  • To sanitize cans, first mark contents on can lid with indelible ink. Remove labels. Paper can harbor dangerous bacteria. Then wash cans in a strong detergent solution using a scrub brush. Finally, immerse containers for 15 minutes in a solution of 1 teaspoon chlorine bleach per quart of room temperature water. Air dry before opening.

  • Sanitize dishes and glassware the same way. To disinfect metal pans and utensils, boil them in water 10 minutes. Discard wooden spoons, plastic utensils, baby bottle nipples and pacifiers.
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