Power cuts
- High-risk food (such as meat, fish, dairy, egg and rice products) must be kept at or below 8C to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria
- If your refrigerators have been without power for more than four hours it is important to immediately chill the food to below 8C or discard the food if you cannot do so (only one single period of up to four hours out of refrigeration)
- Provided doors are kept closed, food should remain frozen in disconnected freezers for up to 24 hours. If food has defrosted it should be safe if treated as chilled food, refrigerated and used up to within a couple of days. If frozen food has risen above 8C for more than four hours the food should be thrown away
- If you are affected by intermittent power cuts, consider using cool boxes and keep a ready supply of ice blocks. Freeze these at times when the power is on
- Try to avoid opening refrigerator and freezer doors when the power is off. The temperature of an open fridge rises very quickly
- If you are unable to keep high-risk food under adequate temperature control you must close your business
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