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Food Safety News published guidance on October 9, 2026, for handling food and kitchen items after hurricanes cause flooding or prolonged power outages. It advises discarding food exposed to floodwater and refrigerated or frozen food after several days without power, while giving steps to clean certain dishes and save eligible sealed products.
Food Safety News published hurricane-recovery guidance on October 9 advising households to discard food that may have touched floodwater and refrigerated or frozen food after several days without power. The recommendations also explain how to handle potentially contaminated drinking water, kitchenware and certain commercially packaged foods.
The report says never taste food to check whether it is safe. If electricity has been out for several days, it advises throwing away food in both the refrigerator and freezer. It points readers to a food-safety chart for decisions after a prolonged outage, but the source material provided does not include that chart or its item-by-item guidance.
For drinking, the report recommends using bottled water or other beverages that have not contacted floodwater. It warns that screw caps are not waterproof and says to discard beverages whose containers may have been exposed. Food in packaging that is not waterproof should also be discarded if it may have touched floodwater. The report specifically names screw-cap, snap-lid, pull-top and crimped-cap containers as non-waterproof.
Some undamaged, commercially prepared food in all-metal cans or retort pouches may be salvageable, according to the report, if consumers follow the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s severe-storm food-safety instructions. The source also advises washing metal pans, utensils and ceramic dishes that contacted floodwater with hot, soapy water, rinsing them and then sanitizing them by boiling in clean water or soaking for 15 minutes in a solution of one tablespoon of unscented liquid chlorine bleach per gallon of drinking water.
Keeping Floodwater Out of Meals
Hurricane damage can affect food safety even when packages look intact. Floodwater exposure and extended loss of refrigeration are separate hazards: an item may need to be discarded because it contacted floodwater, while food kept cold may become unsafe after power fails. The guidance gives households practical ways to reduce the chance of consuming contaminated food or water during cleanup and recovery.
The advice also distinguishes between items that may be cleaned and those that should be thrown away. Metal cookware and ceramic dishes can be washed and sanitized using the stated method, while porous or difficult-to-sanitize items—including wooden cutting boards, plastic utensils, baby-bottle nipples and pacifiers—should be discarded if they may have contacted floodwater. That distinction can help people avoid relying on cleaning methods that the report does not recommend for those objects.
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The report frames its recommendations around two common consequences of hurricanes: flooding and prolonged power outages. It directs readers to USDA material for further instructions on severe storms and hurricanes, including an outage chart and a consumer guide for commercially prepared foods. Those referenced resources provide additional detail beyond the summary published by Food Safety News.
For questions, the report lists the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-674-6854, available Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time in English or Spanish. It also lists the email address MPHotline@usda.gov and the Ask USDA live-chat service.
“Never taste a food to determine its safety.”
— Food Safety News
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Details Not Included in the Report
The source material does not specify an exact number of hours without power for discarding each category of refrigerated or frozen food; it says to throw away refrigerator and freezer food if power has been out for several days and refers readers to a separate chart. The chart’s detailed thresholds are not provided in the supplied report text.
The guidance also does not identify local floodwater conditions, outage duration or the state of an individual household’s food. Those details can affect what consumers encounter during recovery, so the source directs readers to USDA resources and its hotline for further questions. It does not report a particular storm, location or food-safety incident tied to the recommendations.
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Use USDA Help During Cleanup
People assessing food after a storm can consult the USDA food-safety chart for power outages and the agency’s severe-storm and hurricane guide referenced by Food Safety News. The report says consumers without bottled water should learn how to boil or disinfect water safely; it does not provide those procedures in the supplied text.
For individual questions, consumers can contact the Meat and Poultry Hotline on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time, email MPHotline@usda.gov or use Ask USDA live chat. Local conditions and household circumstances remain relevant; the published recommendations do not give a storm-specific assessment.
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Key Questions
Should I taste food to see if it is safe after a hurricane?
No. Food Safety News says never to taste food to determine whether it is safe. Follow the relevant disposal guidance instead.
What should I do with refrigerator and freezer food after a prolonged outage?
The report advises discarding food in the refrigerator and freezer if power has been out for several days. It refers readers to a USDA outage chart for more specific guidance, but the chart’s details are not included in the source material.
Can I drink a sealed beverage that may have touched floodwater?
The report says to discard beverages that may have contacted floodwater. It warns that screw caps are not waterproof, so a closed cap does not establish that the contents are protected.
Which kitchen items should be discarded after floodwater contact?
Food Safety News advises discarding wooden cutting boards, plastic utensils, baby-bottle nipples and pacifiers that may have contacted floodwater. It gives a wash-and-sanitize procedure for metal pans, utensils and ceramic dishes instead.
Where can I get more food-safety guidance?
The report lists the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-674-6854, open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time in English or Spanish. It also provides MPHotline@usda.gov and Ask USDA live chat.
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