Tag Archives: Storm

Frankenstorm is on its way to the U.S. east coast (and inland)

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Call Wahlberg and Clooney. The perfect storm is on the way. As folks between North Carolina and New England get ready for Hurricane Sandy, Food Safety Infosheets have been resurrected. The newest food safety infosheet, a graphical one-page food safety-related story directed at food businesses, is now available.

Food Safety Infosheet Highlights:
– Place a thermometer in your fridge and freezer.
– Have a tip-sensitive digital thermometer ready to check foods.
– Have items that don’t require refrigeration and can be eaten cold or heated on an outdoor grill.
– Freeze containers of water for ice and to help keep food cold in the appliances.
– Plan ahead by preparing coolers and knowing where dry ice and block ice suppliers are.
Food safety infosheets are  are posted in restaurants, retail stores, on farms and used in training throughout the world. If you have any infosheet topic requests, or photos, please contact Ben Chapman atbenjamin_chapman@ncsu.edu.
You can follow food safety infosheets stories and barfblog on twitter @benjaminchapman and @barfblog

Click here to download.

Ice storm hits Manhattan 3 — keeping food safe

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On Tuesday night, the entire sky over Manhattan was colored green. And it happened at least five other times.

Those were transformers blowing up.

Westar electric says Manhattain may have no power for a week.

Yikes.

And then, Wednesday night, just when we thought we would have to wash dishes by hand, the power came on.

We’re fortunate, as hundreds of thousands across the Midwest still have no power, including several thousand in Manhattan. With that in mind, Reuters and USA Today picked up on my fridge on the front porch theme (also works well for beer).

CHICAGO — For nearly 610,000 customers in the U.S. Central Plains without power, the contents of their refrigerators and freezers may not be a total loss, a food safety expert said on Wednesday.
Meat, milk, cheese and other food can temporarily and safely be stored outside during freezing weather, said Doug Powell, an associate professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology at Kansas State University.

Freezing rain and ice brought down tree branches and power lines on Sunday and Monday, initially leaving 1.2 million customers without electricity. Utility companies were estimating it may take up to 10 days to restore power to all customers in Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri.

To turn a backyard into a refrigerator, place food in a cooler to protect it and monitor with a thermometer. Pack ice or snow around the food to help keep it cold.

Frozen foods will be fine for a couple days below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 Celsius). Refrigerated foods will keep at temperatures below 40F (4C).

While it’s fine for consumers to use their backyards as make-shift refrigerators, it’s not an option for restaurants and other businesses that serve food, Powell said.

For more information:
www.foodsafety.ksu.edu
www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/NR_121007_01/index.asp

The pictures were taken this morning as the sun shone once again.

Ice storm hits Manhattan: Keeping food safe 30 hours later

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The novelty is wearing off.

As I noted yesterday, the Midwest U.S. was hit with an ice storm that started in Manhattan Monday evening. Our power went off Tuesday morning about 3 a.m. Sure, it was fun last night as we worked by candlelight until our batteries ran out, and had a friend and her dogs over for a sleepover by our gas fireplace (which keeps the primary rooms at a comfortable 62F), but awakening to darkness again was less fun.

Kansas State University is open and has full power this a.m., but a large chunk of central Manhattan is still without electricity.

USDA has a laundry list of food safety recommendations at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/NR_121007_01/index.asp.

Here’s my experience, after 30 hours of no electricity.

The freezer (left) is of no use, with an internal temperature of 51F, but that’s largely because I moved the valuable foods to a cooler outside.

The fridge (right) is of some use, at 52F. Yoghurt, cheese, condiments, produce, they will be good for awhile yet.

The cooler outside is working well, with a temperature of 30F. The frozen items may suffer some deterioration in quality, but things like milk and raw (unfrozen) meat are doing fine. I could buy some ice and add it if I wanted to bring the temperature down further.

Here’s hoping we get some power soon.

Ice storm hits Manhattan — keeping food safe

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The power starting going on and off about midnight. A tree branch went through a neighbor’s  car windshield at 3 a.m. The electricity has been out since 4 a.m.

And it’s going to get worse.

The freezing rain and ice storms throughout the Midwest hit Manhattan (Kansas, that is) hard last night. Tree branches loaded with ice are falling every five minutes. So after a leisurely morning spent decorating the Christmas tree and praising our gas fireplace, gas stove, gas water heater and gas barbecue, we couldn’t take it anymore and walked the dogs up to Kansas State University — which is closed, but does have electricity and Internet.

Before leaving I noticed the refrigerator contents were warming up. Same with the freezer. We’ve been eating our way through the perishables, and moved the high-risk foods to a cooler and placed it on the front porch, where it is 32F.

In anticipation of the storm, USDA sent an advisory yesterday, Keeping food safe during an emergency. I can’t really argue with most of the points, below.

And if the news is slow getting out on the listservs, you now know why.

Steps to follow to prepare for a possible weather emergency:

* Keep an appliance thermometer in the refrigerator and freezer. An appliance thermometer will indicate the temperature in the refrigerator and freezer in case of a power outage and help determine the safety of the food.

* Make sure the freezer is at or below 0° F and the refrigerator is at or below 40° F.

* Freeze containers of water for ice to help keep food cold in the freezer, refrigerator or coolers after the power is out.

* Freeze refrigerated items such as leftovers, milk and fresh meat and poultry that you may not need immediately – this helps keep them at a safe temperature longer.

* Plan ahead and know where dry ice and block ice can be purchased.

* Store food on shelves that will be safely out of the way of contaminated water in case of flooding.

* Have coolers on hand to keep refrigerator food cold if the power will be out for more than four hours. Purchase or make ice cubes and store in the freezer for use in the refrigerator or in a cooler. Freeze gel packs ahead of time for use in coolers.

* Group food together in the freezer — this helps the food stay cold longer.

Steps to follow after the weather emergency:

* Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature.

* The refrigerator will keep food safely cold for about 4 hours if it is unopened. A full freezer will hold the temperature for approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full and the door remains closed.)

* Food may be safely refrozen if it still contains ice crystals or is at 40° F or below.

* When in Doubt, Throw it Out.