Flooding: Before & After

A publication of the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service

Restoring Vital Services — Salvaging flood-damaged food

Flood-damaged foods may not be safe to eat.

Destroy the following foods if they've been covered by flood water:

Fresh fruits and vegetables.
Foods in cardboard or paper cartons.
Foods in bags, such as rice and flour.
Foods, liquids or beverages in crown-capped bottles or containers with pull-tops, corks or screw caps. These include canned foods in glass jars whether you bought them or canned them yourself.

If there is danger of contamination from industrial waste, the Food and Drug Administration recommends destroying all foods that were covered with water, including those sealed in unopened cans. Otherwise, foods in sealed cans may be safe to eat if the cans don't have bulges or leaks, but you must disinfect the cans before you open them.

To disinfect cans, first remove the labels and wash the containers with soap or detergent. Then rinse in a chlorine bleach solution using two tablespoons of household laundry bleach to each gallon of water. Rinse the containers in clean water, dry and re-label them. The cans can also be sterilized by covering with water and boiling for at least 10 minutes.

Salvaging Frozen Foods

During power failure, frozen or refrigerated foods which have warmed to above refrigeration temperatures (above 40-45 degrees farenheit) for two to three hours may not be safe to eat. Foods in a freezer without power, however, may stay frozen from one to three days, depending on these conditions:

if the door remains closed,
if the freezer is mostly full,
if the temperature outside is moderate,
and if the freezer is large and well insulated.

Foods that have thawed completely and warmed to temperatures of 40 degrees farenheit or higher are not likely to be fit for re-freezing and should be cooked or eaten immediately or discarded. After cooking, items can then be re-frozen. Partially thawed frozen foods with ice crystals may be re-frozen safely.

Dry ice can be added to the freezer to keep the temperature below freezing; 25 pounds of dry ice in a 10 cubic foot, half-full freezer should hold the temperature below freezing for two to three days. Allow from two-and-a-half to three pounds of dry ice per cubic foot of space. More will be needed for an upright model, because dry ice should be placed on each shelf.

Place dry ice on boards or heavy paper on top of the packages and do not open freezer more than necessary. If freezer is an upright one, place dry ice on each shelf. Don't handle dry ice with bare hands, because it can cause burns. To further help keep foods cold, the freezer compartment can be wrapped with blankets, quilts or some other covering. If you put blankets or other coverings on the freezer, be careful not to cover the air-vent openings. If the power comes on, ventilation will be needed.