GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — About 90,000 households in the Twin Cities metro lost power during Monday night's storms.
Tuesday morning doesn't look much better as most of those households - about 81,000 - still don't have electricity. If you're one of them, and your refrigerator has been off this whole time... can you still eat the perishables?
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the food in your refrigerator will be okay for up to four hours during a power outage. Officials advise to keep the door closed as much as possible.
After four hours, the USDA says it's advisable to throw away perishables like meat, poultry, fish, eggs and leftovers. Milk and soft cheeses should be thrown out as well, but hard cheeses (like cheddar can) stay.
As for fruit and veggies, the USDA says to keep uncut fresh fruit and veggies but throw away any items that have been sliced or prepped. Frozen foods are often okay to keep as long as they are not exposed to temperatures of 40-degree-or-higher for more than two hours.
For a full list of which foods are safe to keep and stuff you should throw away, click here.
