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Why You Should Place a Coin in a Frozen Cup of Water During Power Outages?

Believe it or not, life is made so much easier with this hack that can detect spoiled food preventing the risk of food poisoning.

BY GREEN MATTERS STAFF

PUBLISHED 4 DAYS AGO

(L) Silver round coin on person's hand. (R) A glass of water frozen in the freezer. (Representative Cover Image Source: (L) Pexels | Caleb Oquendo, (R) Unsplash | Jason Mitrione)

Life is often made so much easier with quirky little hacks. For those needing a hack to identify which food in the refrigerator had gone bad, here's one simple method. TV Host Cody Stark once shared a useful trick to ensure you are eating safe food after returning home from a long vacation or work trip. A YouTube video shared on Good Day Sacramento (@GoodDaySacramento) revealed how one can use a coin to prevent food poisoning by simply placing it on a cup of ice. This is to keep track of any possible power outages while you are away from home.

A woman examining the tomatoes from her refrigerator. (Representative Image Source: Pexels | Andrea Piacquadio)

“This is a very cheap inexpensive way to make sure you’re healthy and safe,” Stark said. He painted the picture of a risky scenario that could potentially make someone fall sick with food poisoning. The host speculated that while people are away on trips they barely stop to think about the food stored in their fridge, let alone the number of power outages there might have been. Upon returning home, Stark pointed out, it is a common tendency to go to the fridge and contemplate binging on the leftover food unaware of its condition.

Fruit dropping into water. (Representative Image Source: Pexels | Nikolas R)

Stark noted that most people judge their food based on its appearance. “‘That sill looks good!’ and then you open up the thing and you eat it and you’re like ‘Oh it’s not good at all,'” he added. To remain privy to the intensity of power outages, Stark advised to grab a frozen cup of ice and put a penny on top of it. He demonstrated the hack by showcasing a frozen cup with a bronze coin placed on it only after the ice was frozen. Otherwise, he said the coin would sink if simply popped into the water and then allowed to freeze.

Multiple silver coins scattered on table. (Representative Image Source: Pexels | Jeff Weese)

Now, if the power had gone out but only for a “little while”, the penny would also sink “a little” bit too. He showed a second frozen cup of ice with a coin slightly sunken into the ice indicating that the food may or may not be safe. “It might be okay although I would be questioning some stuff. You know like maybe the mayonnaise will go,” Stark quipped. A third cup of frozen ice had a nearly invisible coin sunken deep into the ice. This cup signified that there was a long power outage during the time. “Your penny has sunk to the bottom. Do not eat that food. Do not do it,” Stark warned. This method was a simple way to deduce if the fridge had been working all along or if there was a malfunction somewhere in between.

Stainless steel ice bucket filled with ice. (Representative Image Source: Pexels | Engin Akyurt)

The CDC estimated that 1 in 6 Americans fall sick, are hospitalized, or die of foodborne illnesses annually. Many suffer fatalities due to food poisoning-related issues generally caused by bacteria, viruses, and parasites, as per the report. Meanwhile, the United States recently reported 77,775 power outages in the last 72 hours, per USA Today. The most power outages were in cities like Oregon, Washington, Texas, and California among others. Therefore, it is quite plausible that while someone is away on vacation, their food might go bad due to the frequent power outages causing the fridge to turn off. This will eventually result in unsafe food with the potential to cause food poisoning.