Is it illegal for restaurants to save food from a power outage? (Sussex: insurance)

[moshywilly]

I went to Mr. Chu in East Hanover a while back in February. I overheard the owner talking to a customer and she said they lost power from a snowstorm causing them to close for a day. Obviously, she said they lost business. She said inspectors randomly showed up to the restaurant the next day and forced them to throw out all the food in the fridge even though it was still good. The inspectors had to watch them throw it out.

Wow, wasting that much food is bad. Is it illegal if any restaurant owner brings food home to keeps it refrigerated in their own refrigerator?

[jaymoney]

Any food stored between 40 and 140 degrees is at risk for bacteria. While wasting food is bad making twenty people call out from work for two days because of e coli is worse. This is also why restaurant and home owners can get refunds from power companies when power goes out for food they had to throw out, they just need receipts.

Restaurant owners can do whatever they want in their own private homes with regard to food safety but they can't do it in their restaurants.

[BugsyPal]

Originally Posted by potanta

I went to Mr. Chu in East Hanover a while back in February. I overheard the owner talking to a customer and she said they lost power from a snowstorm causing them to close for a day. Obviously, she said they lost business. She said inspectors randomly showed up to the restaurant the next day and forced them to throw out all the food in the fridge even though it was still good. The inspectors had to watch them throw it out.

Wow, wasting that much food is bad. Is it illegal if any restaurant owner brings food home to keeps it refrigerated in their own refrigerator?

Answer to first part is quite clear; unless the power outage was *very* short (as in minutes), then nearly universally all restaurants, supermarkets, grocery stores, delis... any place that sells or prepares food for public consumption bins everything that was refrigerated or frozen. Not only is this good best practice, but as noted local health inspectors often show up to make sure the deed is done properly.


Taking the foods home wouldn't work either as there is no certainty (that would stand up in court anyway) that things were kept at legally required temps while being transported to and from domicile, much less while stored. In any case if anyone got even a sight tummy and sued, owners would likely lose their shirts and insurance my not cover any or all of liability. OTOH insurance often will cover costs of foods/inventory ruined due to power outage, and or the goods can be written off as a loss for tax purposes.


For the record throwing out food/inventory after a power outage is fairly standard and common occurrence.


https://www.nbcnewyork.com/on-air/as..._New-York.html


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ters-food.html


Liability for business owner ends with them chucking things out; if you or anyone else wants to dumpster dive; then help yourself. In fact if you thought throwing out all that "good" food was horrible, you should have taken some or all of it home yourself.


For the record soup kitchens, food banks/pantries and other such places would *NEVER* accept such perishables. Nor do various good Samaritan statues that cover donated foods cover donating possibly "tainted" foods. This is another reason why places just throw things away; they cannot legally or ethically do otherwise.

[Blue biker]

I had a friend that was opening a restaurant, he was getting insurance to cover himself if there was a event like a blizzard or something where food would go to waste. I'm sure there is insurance to cover in the event of a power failure.
Health inspectors have to randomly inspect for this sort of thing because unscrupulous restaurant owners sometimes don't throw it out.

I recall reading in the Sussex county newspaper where a restaurant there was caught butchering a roadkill deer. I've gotten food poisoning a couple of times, once from I suspect a bad shrimp egg foo-young and once from bad fish and chips from a food court. Was it from bad handling or just something tainted who knows, puking my guts out to the point of dry heaves was not enjoyable. I never pursued anything against the restaurants that served me, I was just happy to feel better the next day.

[Gerania]

The inspectors didn't randomly show up. They had a list of restaurants to visit and make them throw out their possibly tainted food. The local ERs didn't need a rush of food poisoning patients.