Tens of thousands of Indiana residents are still facing power outages after this week's bout of severe weather… With that, health Department leaders offer the following food safety tips to prevent food-borne illness. For Residents, they say to keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed. Hazardous foods, such as meat or poultry should be chilled to 41° F or less. If necessary, use block ice or bagged ice for extra cooling. They also say do not place hot or warm foods in the refrigerator once the power has gone out. It will raise the interior temperature. Any foods that were prepared prior to the power outage that were not rapidly cooled should be discarded. If the freezer is not full, group packages together so they will retain the cold. Without power, a full freezer will keep everything frozen for about two days.
