A snowstorm knocked down the power lines, can I put the food from the refrigerator and freezer out in the snow?

No. Frozen food can thaw if it is exposed to the sun’s rays, even when the tem­per­a­ture is very cold. Refrig­er­at­ed food may become too warm, and food­borne bac­te­ria could grow. The out­side tem­per­a­ture could vary hour by hour, and the tem­per­a­ture out­side will not pro­tect refrig­er­at­ed and frozen food. Addi­tion­al­ly, per­ish­able items could be exposed to unsan­i­tary con­di­tions or to ani­mals. Ani­mals may har­bor bac­te­ria or dis­ease; nev­er con­sume food that has come in con­tact with an ani­mal.

Rather than putting the food out­side, con­sid­er tak­ing advan­tage of the cold tem­per­a­tures by mak­ing ice. Fill buck­ets, emp­ty milk car­tons or cans with water and leave them out­side to freeze. Then put the home­made ice in your refrig­er­a­tor, freez­er, or cool­ers.

Cat­e­go­ry: Emer­gency Food Safe­ty FAQ