Food safety question/would you eat this? UPDATE in original post

[Kassia]

We lost our power yesterday for 12 1/2 hours.  We had 4 pounds of chicken marinating in a mixture of soy sauce/applesauce/sesame oil/spices.  When it was clear the food in the refrigerator wouldn't last, I threw the chicken in the freezer.  It had been previously frozen, then thawed to marinate and then cook, now it's frozen again.  Is it safe to thaw and eat again?  Or should it be cooked from frozen?  

I also had a ham that I froze.  I think that will be ok.  I've never frozen a ham before.  

I also threw cheese in the freezer - shredded, sliced, string, and blocks.  I expect they are safe but texture will be off.  Same with the Greek and regular yogurt I froze.  

I had to toss all of our eggs, milk (didn't have room to freeze), and almond milk.  I don't know how I'm going to replace everything with no stock and strict restrictions.  😞  I eat eggs every day.  They are one of the few healthy foods I can eat after my intestinal surgeries.  

 

UPDATE - a big big THANK YOU to everyone who responded.  Thanks to you, I had minimal losses.  I ended up keeping the milk, almond milk, and eggs.  I read about the eggs and saw that the biggest risk was salmonella so I only have to make sure they are thoroughly cooked.  I like my eggs overcooked anyway so it's fine for me.  I had already thrown away some yogurt and shredded cheese before posting (trying not to regret that too much - about $20 and the yogurt is impossible to find now), but that was all I ended up losing.  With the food shortages and restriction, keeping the other foods is such a relief.  🙂   The stuff in the freezer never totally froze since it wasn't in there long enough, so the texture is fine.  

 

Edited March 31, 2020 by Kassia

[Melissa in Australia]

the eggs would have been fine.

 I never refrigerate my eggs  they last 4 weeks form freshly layed no problems at room temperature. the shops here don't even have the eggs in the fridge section

grated cheese goes fine being frozen. I keep mine in the freezer and just use straight form there into the coking.

Edited March 30, 2020 by Melissa in Australia

[Ausmumof3]

Yes clean eggs are fine out the fridge!

we have a butcher friend who says meat can be refrozen if it got thawed provided it never goes above 4degrees.  It will lose quality but won’t give you food poisoning.  He was talking beef but I’d assume the rule would apply to chicken.  The only exception might be if the meat was really close to date when you froze it and then the double thawing time pushes it over the edge.

[Ausmumof3]

Edited to add that’s 4degrees Celsius not Fahrenheit!

[MEmama]

Can you retrieve your cheese, eggs and almond milk? Honestly anything (except maybe meat, idk) would be fine in a closed refrigerator for only 12 hours. I would imagine the milk would be fine, yogurts for certain. I wouldn’t throw anything out after such a short outage.

[Kassia]

1 hour ago, MEmama said:

Can you retrieve your cheese, eggs and almond milk? Honestly anything (except maybe meat, idk) would be fine in a closed refrigerator for only 12 hours. I would imagine the milk would be fine, yogurts for certain. I wouldn’t throw anything out after such a short outage.

 

I haven't tossed the eggs, milk, or almond milk yet.  12 hours seems like way too long and I'm scared to keep anything.  😞  I really need the eggs, though...  I already tossed the rest that I couldn't freeze. 

53 minutes ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

So I think the eggs would probably have been okay if your fridge had not gotten actually warm enough to sweat them....but did want to point out that unless you are getting farm eggs that are not washed, in the US you shouldn’t keep eggs from the grocery on the counter.
 

 

I didn't check the eggs when the power came back on.  We haven't tossed them yet.  Do you really think they are safe?  I want them to be, but I'm terrified of food poisoning.  

[Selkie]

The almond milk should be fine. Was it still cool to the touch? Unless it is warm and smells curdled, I'd keep it.

[ThisIsTheDay]

If the refrigerator door would have stayed shut the entire time, I wouldn't have any concerns about anything.

The cheese, milk, etc. wouldn't become dangerous to eat if not properly refrigerated under these circumstances. The eggs would also be fine, although in case there were any microscopic cracks, I would be sure the eggs were cooked to a safe temperature. (I often eat eggs underdone.)

You took the chicken from the fridge and put it in the freezer, even though the power was off, hoping it would keep it cold enough? Yes, it will be fine to eat.

You said you are "terrified of food poisoning." It might be helpful to read up and find what exactly is dangerous or not. It might give you peace of mind not only for this but in the future. And if you sacrifice any of the foods today just for your peace of mind, well, that's fine too!

[Kassia]

Thank you.

I'm in trouble no matter what.  If the food is safe, DH is going to kill me because I already tossed a bunch of yogurts (regular cups and quarts of Greek yogurt) and shredded cheese. He felt it was fine.  I tend to be overly careful and I don't think he is careful enough.   If it's not safe and we eat it, we'll get sick.  

[Kassia]

21 minutes ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

Honestly Kassia, I’m with Thisistheday on if it gives you peace of mind and causes less stress just toss it. Keeping it out of principle but stressing out to where that alone will make you sick isn’t worth it imo. It doesn’t seem like keeping the food is worth the stress it’s causing you! Hugs. 

 

In normal circumstances, I would toss it and just restock.  But with supermarkets being out of stock and restrictions, it is harder to throw out food that might still be good if I can't replace it.

 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

If you are likely to lose power again, freeze a gallon of water in an old clean milk jug.  When your power goes out, move it from the freezer to the fridge.  Place it as high in the fridge as you can, as the cold will fall.  If you are careful to open the fridge door only a few times a day briefly, it will keep the contents cold for a long time.  

[Pen]

Eggs should be fine. And even with milk if it doesn’t curdle coffee, I would consider it fine. 

Our house did not have an indoor fridge but rather a “cooler” cupboard from before electric arrived in this rural area. Eggs were fine there for well over a week.

Milk for usually at least a day even in summer, longer in winter. I judged it by odor, texture, whether it caused coffee to curdle and finally taste.  (It’s possible that even when it went “off” it would have been safe and be along lines of how yoghurt was discovered, but I didn’t have the courage to test it.) 

I would thoroughly recook any meat. The one meat I would not trust at all at room

temp for 12 hours would be fish. 

If anything seems even a bit “off” by smell or taste, Toss it.

cheese will change texture in freezer - like sliced May crumble—but it lasts well in freezer for any use where texture not a problem. 

 

[Acorn]

Leave the door closed and the temperature should stay close to 40 for multiple hours. At about 12 hours, I might move ice from the freezer into the fridge to make the most well designed cooler ever. If our power is out longer than a day, I’ll slip a thermometer in and out, and decide from there. I’d be concerned with our meat and lunch meats. 

[Kassia]

updated in original post.  Thanks everyone!