Safe Food Storage At Home During COVID-19

Now that many states are mandating citizens stay home for 2 weeks, you’re probably stocking up on food for quarantine.

Hopefully your groceries include more than just canned and dried goods, and you were able to find some fresh meat and produce despite the crazies out there. Or maybe you’re one of the crazies who bought way more than you know what to do with. Now you’re trying to figure out the best food storage methods so it all lasts as long as possible, right?

I’ve got you covered.

I’ve gathered some food safety information from the USDA, which I will share with you below. And I’ve made a couple of food storage charts so you can easily check the shelf life of some of the most commonly purchased meats and fresh produce.

Download the cold storage food chart for meats and the food storage chart for fresh fruits and veggies here.

Here are some guidelines from the USDA for food safety to prevent food poisoning and keep your food fresh as long as possible.

First and foremost, keep your refrigerator at 40°F or below, and your freezer at 0°F or below.

Fresh Meat

• Poultry, fish, ground meat, and variety meats should be cooked or frozen within 2 days.
• Other beef, veal, lamb, or pork should be cooked or frozen within 3 to 5 days.
• When freezing, wrap meat or poultry in foil or plastic wrap made for freezer use to maintain quality.

Canned Foods

• High-acid canned foods (tomatoes, grapefruits, pineapple) have a shelf life of approximately 12 to 18 months.
• Low-acid canned foods (meat, poultry, fish, most vegetables) have a shelf life of 2 to 5 years.
• Heavily dented or rusted cans should be thrown out immediately.

Thawing Frozen Foods

• The safest thawing method is by doing so slowly in the fridge.
• Frozen items can be thawed safely by submerging completely in cold water.
• If using cold water to thaw, change water every 30 minutes.
• Only thaw in the microwave if you plan to immediately cook the food once thawed.

Refreezing Defrosted Items

• Meat or poultry defrosted in fridge can be refrozen after thawing, or can be cooked and then refrozen.
• Anything that used other thawing methods (water or microwave) must be cooked before refreezing.

Leftovers

• Perishable items should not be left out for more than 2 hours at room temperature (1 hour if temperature is above 90°F).
• Hot food should be portioned into shallow containers for rapid cooling in fridge; once cooled, portions can be combined into larger contained.
• Cooked leftovers can be kept up to 4 days (3 days for seafood).
• Hot leftovers should be reheated to 165°F.

Obviously these food safety guidelines and the shelf life charts aren’t totally exhaustive lists. But I hope they at least help you with the majority of your fresh food storage! Honestly, who really wants to go out and risk catching COVID-19 by having to buy more groceries anyway? Not this girl.

Still need to download the charts? Meat Storage // Fresh Produce Shelf Life Charts