Millions of Texans have been without electrical energy since a wintertime storm compromised the state ’s major power gridearlier this week . One of the many takings to come out of this disaster isfood waste . As freezers go days without power , Texas occupant are take in the food they desperately need thaw and go high-risk . AsFood & Winereports , the USDA has a part of advice for people currently manage with this situation : refuse the temptation to habituate your curtilage as a deep freezer .
The USDA ’s Food Safety and Inspection Service ( FSIS ) call this problem on itswebsite . Though it may feel freezing out of doors , the FSIS emphasizes that the open world is very dissimilar from the controlled conditions of a kitchen appliance . Heat from direct sun can thaw frozen food even when it ’s below 32 ° F . Temperature changes are heavy to augur , so your food may freeze , thaw , and freeze again over the course of a 24-hour interval , leave it vulnerable to foodborne pathogen . A more obvious danger is that leaving your food for thought outside bring out it to weather condition , insects , andwildlife . In such conditions , it ’s unsufferable to know whether your food is safe to eat once you institute it inside .
Just because you should n’t bury your icy pizza in the snow does n’t mean you ca n’t take advantage of the freeze atmospheric condition during a amnesia . Instead of couch food outside , try transferring some of that coldness into your freezer . Fill buckets or other containers with water and let them suspend outside . you could apply this homemade ice to keep your deep-freeze chilly even if the power has been out for several days .
multitude in Texas are still shinny to stick around warm and course as electricity company mold to repair the damage from the cold weather . Here are someways you could helpthe commonwealth ’s most vulnerable resident during the crisis .
[ h / tFood & Wine ]
