“Essential Cold Weather Food Safety Tips: Safeguard Your Canned and Jarred Foods from Freezing Hazards” | KCLY Radio

Cold weather and power outages can make food safety tricky. Karen Blakeslee, a food scientist at Kansas State University, warns that frozen canned or jarred foods might not be safe to eat.

It’s important to check for any broken seals or seams on metal cans and look for cracks in glass jars. Sometimes, as food and liquids freeze, they can expand and cause damage. If everything looks good and the containers are still sealed, you can keep them. You should thaw the food slowly and store it at room temperature.

If you find any can with a broken seam or a glass jar that’s cracked, it’s best to throw them away. These issues can lead to contamination and make the food unsafe. The same goes for home-canned foods that have come unsealed and thawed. However, if a jar is unsealed but still frozen, you can use it right away or transfer the food to a new container to keep it cold or freeze it again.

To prevent food safety problems in the future, Blakeslee suggests relocating storage containers to warmer spots in your kitchen. You can also wrap them in blankets or paper for extra insulation. Another tip is to keep pantry or cupboard doors slightly open to let warm air flow in.

For more tips on food safety, you can check out Blakeslee’s monthly newsletter, You Asked It!.