Life of food in the frig with no electricity

[TAPrice]

We're back in New Orleans after an uneventful evacuation. Wisely, we dumped all the perishable food from the freezer and frig. What was left were mainly condiments. The power went out Monday morning and came back on Wednesday evening.

What's safe?

Pickles? Ketchup? Various global hot sauces? Mustard? Simply syrup?

Or should I just dump it all and start over?

[Octaveman]

I think what you listed is safe. I'd keep it if it were me.

[tino27]

You probably only need to worry about things with eggs or dairy in them.

[Smithy]

I think you answered your own question: before you left, you dumped all the perishables.

Dairy - you can tell by the smell when it's gone off, or in the case of milk and cream, the fact that it curdles in your coffee;

Meat - actually, I think the same is true here;

Eggs - we all know about the "smell of rotten eggs", but I don't know whether there's a less obvious poisonous stage

It's likely that any fruits or vegetables you left sitting in there are shot. The same may be true of bread. But then, it doesn't sound like you left any of those in storage.

The condiments you names ought to be fine. If you don't like the flavor, or you're in doubt, throw them out. I'd avoid eating egg-containing products like mayonnaise, but straight mustard (NOT dijonnaise) should be fine. Same for horseradish sauce or barbecue sauce. Pickles should have plenty of acid to keep. Syrup will keep.

[Peter the eater]

. . . . What's safe?

Maple syrup, corn syrup, honey, molasses, mustard, ketchup, hot sauces, peanut butter -- none of mine say keep refrigerated. Soy sauce does.

[TAPrice]

Unfortunately, this topic is now merely academic for me. My wife insisted that we toss everything labeled "refrigerate after opening." Oddly enough, the yellow mustard said "for best taste refrigerate." Can't imagine it would make a difference.

[Kayakado]

I was in Denver for four days and came back to find out my power had been off for four days due to Fay.

I tossed everything in the frig but the butter, yogurt, eggs, cream and half and half. I tossed everything in the freezer but dried fruit, nuts and flours.

I thought it was a good excuse to start over, especially ridding myself of condiments that may have been from the last century.

[Beebs]

Our fridge (and freezer) broke down during the hottest weekend we've had in Vancouver this year. And the new fridge we ordered wouldn't arrive till 2 weeks later. We tossed everything, except for a couple items that I snuck into my office fridge and my parent's fridge. Not that we didn't need to purge our fridge, and not that it wasn't nice to fill a new fridge from scratch - but going about it this way was a bit on the drastic side....

In any event, we decided not to keep stuff because if it was in the fridge, it was probably meant to be refridgerated. And we didn't want to take any chances on food that would have been sitting around for 2 weeks. Managed to save the sodas and the beer though!

[JohnnyH]

I was in Denver for four days and came back to find out my power had been off for four days due to Fay. 

I tossed everything in the frig but the butter, yogurt, eggs, cream and half and half. I tossed everything in the freezer but dried fruit, nuts and flours.

I thought it was a good excuse to start over, especially ridding myself of condiments that may have been from the last century.

←

I don't understand. Why would you throw out everything but the dairy, which spoils faster in heat than anything else?