MOUNT VERNON — Local restaurants and grocers are feeling a financial sting after having to throw out refrigerated and frozen food items following Friday’s wind storm. A sustained power outage caused meat, produce and dairy items to spoil, making them unsafe to eat.
The Knox County Health Department follows a strict set of guidelines set forth by the United States Department of Agriculture regarding the safety of frozen and refrigerated foods. They routinely monitor local retailers in cases like last week’s storm to assure safety measures are being followed.
“We’ve been making calls to as many as possible,” said environmental health director Nate Overholt. “Our places have been very good; they’ve been proactive because nobody wants to get anybody sick.”