Flooded Food and Food Storage

Flooded food to discard:

  • opened containers
  • unopened jars and bottles with screw-cap lids, snap lids, or twist caps
  • beverages with crimped caps
  • canned food with pull-top lids
  • food in canisters
  • food in plastic bags, paper, cloth, cellophane, foil, or cardboard packaging
  • dented, bulging, or leaking cans
  • jams and jellies sealed with paraffin
  • raw fruits and vegetables
  • home canned foods that have been submerged
  • garden produce currently growing either above or below ground
  • food in a flooded refrigerator

Fresh bleach solutions should be made each day for sanitizing. Do not save solutions to be used the next day. Always use bleach that is at least 5% sodium hypochlorite.

Plan to use any containers of food that have been sanitized as soon as possible and practical.

Only solid lid cans (not pull-top lids) and retort pouches (such as pouches shelf-stable juice or tuna come in) should be sanitized. Clean and sanitize cans and pouches before opening.

  1. Remove labels and mark the contents and expiration date (if possible) on the cans/pouches with a permanent marker.
  2. Brush, wipe, or rinse off dirt.
  3. Wash cans/pouches in hot, soapy water. Scrub with a brush to remove all dirt.
  4. Rinse in clean water.
  5. Use one of three methods to sanitize:
    Method 1: Immerse cans/pouches for 2 minutes in a solution of 1 tablespoon unscented, liquid chlorine bleach per gallon of clean water. Rinse in clean water.
    Method 2: Dip cans/pouches in a solution of 3 tablespoons unscented, liquid chlorine bleach per gallon of clean water. Rinse in clean water.
    Method 3: Immerse cans/pouches in boiling water and boil for 10 minutes. Cans will not explode but do not boil longer than 10 minutes.
  6. Air-dry completely.

Home canned food may be saved if it can be confirmed that the jars were not completely submerged in flood waters and water did not get above the canning ring (if one is on the jar) or on the jar lid.

  1. Brush, wipe, or rinse off dirt.
  2. Wash jars in hot soapy water and rinse.
  3. Sanitize in a strong bleach solution of 1 tablespoon unscented, liquid chlorine bleach per quart of clean water. A stronger solution is needed since the jars cannot be as vigorously scrubbed as metal cans. Immerse for 2 minutes.

Food correctly sealed in #10 cans or foil pouches for long-term storage can be used after the container is washed with hot, soapy water, rinsed in clean water, and immersed for 15 minutes in a solution of 1 tablespoon unscented, liquid chlorine bleach per gallon of clean water. The longer time will allow the bleach to reach every part of the packaging. Rinse in clean water. The containers should be completely air-dried before opening or storing.

Wash and sanitize food storage buckets in the same way as #10 cans and foil pouches but be aware that the seal could have been compromised by the weight of the flood waters if the buckets were submerged. You will know if the food is unsafe when you open it. It will be wet or have mold growing in it or on top of it. The other option is to wash off the outside of the bucket with hot soapy water, open the bucket and, if the food is dry and clean, repackage the food in clean buckets, foil pouches, PETE bottles, or canning jars. Food in foil pouches inside the buckets will be safe unless water is found in the bucket after it is opened. If water is found, sanitize the pouch of food in the same way as other foil pouches.

Although flooded growing vegetables (both above and below ground) must be discarded, new vegetables that form and grow on surviving plants are safe to eat. Vegetable gardens will become clean in about one month.

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