Food emergency

[LittleOldLady]

We have this problem all the time in south Louisiana. The official recommendation that is repeated every time we have a storm and lengthy power outage: if the food still has some ice crystals it can be refrozen--and, of course, it can also be cooked immediately. If it has completely thawed and been at room temperature for a couple of hours, throw it out. Do not rely on smell or appearance changes.