Flood Damage- 5/14/97

FLOOD DAMAGED KITCHENS


Home Canned Foods
Commercially Canned Foods
Cupboard Foods
Cookware
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Flood waters often contain untreated sewage which can contaminate your kitchen with illness-causing bacteria. Some agencies are recommending discard of all kitchen contents but that is not necessary for safety. Salvaging food and cooking utensils from flood damaged kitchens is possible but time consuming. Flood victims should consider how to prioritize their time.


Home Canned Foods

If the seal on canned foods has broken; they must be discarded for safety. Press the top of the lid (both home and commercially canned) and if it flips up and down then the seal is broken.

Salvaging home canned items should be given careful consideration;it is often most practical to simply discard them. However,these items sometimes have great sentimental value and some people will insist on salvaging them. The following is the safest way: When salvaging home canned foods particular care is needed in cleaning the top opening area because the threads and exposed portion of the sealing compound can harbor bacteria. Mix a chlorine-water solution (1 to 4 Tb bleach per gal water) and immerse top of sealed canned jar in this chlorine solution. Then, before opening to serve, wipe the threads with a paper towel soaked in chlorine solution again. For an additional margin of safety, use flood water contaminated canned meats and vegetables (anything you preserved with a pressure canner) in oven baked recipes.

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Commercially Canned Foods


Commercially canned foods can be safely salvaged by discarding paper lables, washing the cans and rinsing them in a bleach solution and re-lableing them with indelible marker. Then air-dry the cans to prevent rusting. Cans which rust should be discarded for safety. The can cleaning should be done as soon as you can return to your home. Many flood victims find the value of canned foods does not warrant such a time consuming process during this crisis.

Cupboard Foods

If dry foods (crackers, cookies, flour, sugar, cornmeal, uncooked macaroni and rice) have become moist they must be discarded. If they have molded (a sign they became moist) they must also be discarded for safety.

Cookware

 Salvaging food containers such as metal pans, cookie sheets, and plastic bowls is important to many cooks. The general rule is if the item can be safely washed in the dishwasher, it can be throughly cleaned. It is advisable to pre-wash any visible flood debris from the items first (this can be done outside with a hose or washtub). Some householders feel more comfortable re-using these items if they have been rinsed in bleach-water solution, but the heat treatment of the dishwashihg process is adequate (unless the water temperature has been decreased). Note: If plastic items are heavily scratched, it is difficult to get microorganisms out of those cracks. Examine the plastic cooking containers and cutting boards before trying to clean them; discard is often the best option for them.
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