Is Eating Canned Food Safe After Loudon Fire Damage Restoration?

1/24/2022 (Permalink)

SERVPRO recommends to our Oak Ridge neighbors to toss fire damaged food, we can take care of cleaning up your home

Post-Fire Food Safety Assessment Experience: Why SERVPRO's Guidance Is Reliable

During Oak Ridge fire damage restoration, smoke, heat, and charring suffered by food and drinks cause safety concerns. If food sustains contamination or undergoes toxic chemical changes, house fire clean-up must include disposal of these tainted items.

Can Cleaning Interventions Make Fire Damaged Foods and Beverages Safe to Ingest?

Unfortunately, even innovative cleaning strategies cannot restore the safety of fire-damaged food in Oak Ridge homes. Understanding which consumables have crossed the line from edible to dangerous is vital to health and well-being, why SERVPRO helps homeowners sort the food in pantries as part of our fire mitigation and remediation services. Follow our recommendations to retain only foods completely unadulterated by a household fire's effects.

Which Foods Need Disposal During Oak Ridge Fire Damage Restoration?

One of the most common reasons why SERVPRO recommends tossing out food after a fire is the spoilage caused by high temperatures. Even food in sealed jars and cans harbor toxins after heat exposure because:

• Elevated temperatures cause tiny cracks or seal breakage, permitting contaminants to enter.
• Plastic containers or liners inside glass or metal can melt, leaching hazardous substances into the canned or jarred food.
• Heat can activate food spoilage bacteria inside a sealed vessel.

Can Soot Infiltrate Seals and Contaminate Food?

Heat is not the only danger to canned, jarred, and vacuum-sealed packaged food. Microscopic soot particles can intrude through seals of professionally prepared as well as home-canned or bagged food. For example, soot can "climb" the ridges of a screw top, invading unopened containers after a residential fire. The act of twisting off the top of a bottle or jar, using a can opener, or tearing or cutting open a bag of food might introduce soot residues on the surface of the containers. The uncertainty of contamination is why SERVPRO often recommends discarding unopened jars and plastic packs.

Familiarity with the science of fire damage and food contamination is why SERVPRO of Loudon & Roane Counties offers trustworthy advice during food storage space cleanup. Call (865) 986-3015 for a consultation.