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Most chopped meats, poultry and seafood
sandwich fillings should not be
left without refrigeration for more that four (4) hours.
- If you have to leave your home without
an ice chest containing ice, take cold ingredients for any salads
and toss (mix) them.
- When you arrive at the shelter where you
will stay during the emergency, eat them immediately!
- If there is any salad left, throw it
away.
You can extend your food supply by cooking all unspoiled meat immediately.
- Cooked meat needs to be kept above 140
degrees (F) if it cannot be cooled below 45 degrees (F) within
two hours.
- Large, solid, de-boned pieces of fresh
beef or lamb such as rump roast or leg of lamb are least susceptible
to quick spoilage.
Uncured sausage
is vulnerable to contamination because it is free of preservatives.
- Keep frozen until you must leave, and
then cook it before it is completely thawed.
Raw chopped meats, like hamburger spoil quickly.
- Pork, fish, and poultry spoil quickly.
- Dispose of them if they have been in the
refrigerator without power for 12 hours or more.
- Do not trust your sense of smell!
Hard cheese
usually keeps well at room temperatures.
- Other cheeses, such as cream cheese, opened
containers of cheese spreads and cottage cheese, spoil quickly.
- Throw out when off-flavor develops.
- If surface mold develops on blocks of
cheese, slice one inch below the surface and discard.
Milk spoils
quickly without refrigeration.
- Throw out spoiled milk.
- Sour milk may be used in baking.
Custards, gravies, creamed foods, poultry
and seafood sandwich fillings spoil
quickly when warmed, and provide ideal growing places for organisms
causing food borne illness.
- Dispose of these foods if they have warmed
to room temperatures.
- Spoilage is difficult to detect since
there may be no offensive odor or taste.
Commercially made baked goods with cream
fillings are not safe to take when
evacuating unless you have a cold place to keep them. It is best
to leave cream pies and all foods containing high protein and
moisture at home unless you store them in a cooler with ice. |