During the summer months losing power to your home can happen more frequently and it’s important to know safety when it comes to frozen foods. 

With an incident that recently happened in portions of Dallas County where households lost power Dallas County Health Department Public Information Officer Ann Cochran says food can become no longer good to consume if the power is out.

“If the power goes off for more than just a few hours your refrigerated food supply could spoil. Typically, food in the freezer can last up to 48 hours if you keep the door closed and you have quite a few things in the freezer because the frozen foods help keep one another cold.”

Cochran tells Raccoon Valley Radio that spoiled food can become more of an issue if you have lost power for an extended period of time. 

“It’s important to know that if you lose power and it’s been off for a while it’s much smarter to just go ahead and throw away those perishable foods because you don’t want to get into a problem with food poisoning or anything like that.”

Cochran says keeping cold foods cold and making sure it doesn’t go bad is important during times where the power in your home is out.