LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A winter storm has arrived in Indiana, along with a threat of ice and power outages. What do you do? You stock up on the essentials for hunkering indoors, including all the foods you'll need for the next few days.
But what if the storm hits and power goes out for longer than a few minutes? Now is a good time to know just how long you have before you have to throw out some of that food.
According to the CDC, you can prepare ahead of time by filling some of your unused space with dry ice, gel packs or frozen containers of water to help keep the temperatures down. Also, have a cooler handy in case you need to shift foods somewhere else.
Once the power goes out, keep the refrigerator and freezer doors shut. If they stay closed, a fridge will keep food cold for about four hours.
A full freezer should keep its temperature for up to 48 hours. The time is cut in half if the freezer's only half full.
If the power's been out for more than four hours, refrigerated foods like milk, eggs, meats, poultry and fish have to go. The CDC says you should never taste food to determine if it is safe to eat. 'When in doubt, throw it out.'
Once the power's restored, you can start using the fridge again as long as it stays below 40°F. The freezer should be at 0°F or below.
You may also be thinking, "Can I safely keep my food outside if the power is out and the weather is freezing?" Our VERIFY team looked into that and found it's not the safest practice. You can read more about why here.
Contact reporter Brooke Hasch at bhasch@whas11.com. Follow her on Twitter (@WHAS11Hasch) and Facebook.