Power Out at Your Restaurant? What to Stop, What to Record and Who Approves Reopening

If the power goes out and it isn't a quick flicker, treat it as a possible health hazard, not just an equipment problem. Under the FDA's model Food Code, a restaurant has to stop operations right away and notify its health department when an outage may create an imminent health hazard. An "extended interruption of electrical service" is one of the examples the code lists.

Under the model code, there are only two ways to keep anything running. The first is an area the outage doesn't affect. The second applies only if your health department agrees under a written emergency operating plan it has already approved. Once you've stopped, the lights coming back on doesn't mean you can reopen. The code requires the health department's approval first.

Below are the decision in order, what to write down while it's happening, a blank incident sheet you can copy, and a fictional example where nobody knows exactly when the power went out.

What the code says, and what it leaves to your health department

The FDA Food Code is a model. It becomes law where a state or local government adopts it, in whatever edition and with whatever changes they make. FDA issued a 2026 edition, but its 2024 adoption report found only 11 state agencies in 7 states on the 2022 edition at the time. Your rules may come from an older edition or from a local code with different wording.

We checked the two sections that matter here in the 2017, 2022 and 2026 editions. The wording is the same in all three. We didn't check older editions or any state or local amendments.

• Section 8-404.11(A). The permit holder has to immediately stop operations and notify the regulatory authority if an imminent health hazard may exist because of an emergency. The listed examples include fire, flood, sewage backup and an "extended interruption of electrical or water service."
• Section 8-404.11(B). You don't have to stop operations in an area of the establishment that the hazard doesn't affect.
• Section 8-404.11(C). For an extended electrical or water interruption, the regulatory authority may agree to let you keep operating, considering the hazard and how complex the fix is. It can only do that if all three of these are true: (1) a written emergency operating plan has been approved, (2) you take immediate corrective action to eliminate, prevent or control the food-safety risk from the interruption, and (3) the regulatory authority is informed when you put the plan into effect.
• Section 8-404.12. If you stopped operating under 8-404.11 or otherwise under the law, the permit holder has to get approval from the regulatory authority before resuming operations.

A few terms, in plain English:

• Permit holder: the business that is legally responsible for the restaurant and holds its permit.
• Regulatory authority: the local, state or federal enforcement body with jurisdiction over your restaurant. For most restaurants that means the local or state health department.
• Imminent health hazard: a significant threat to health that needs immediate correction or a shutdown to prevent injury. It's judged by how many people could be hurt and how serious and long-lasting the harm could be.
• TCS food: "time/temperature control for safety" food. That's food that needs time or temperature control to limit the growth of harmful microorganisms or toxin formation, such as raw or cooked meat, cooked rice and vegetables, cut melons and cut leafy greens.

Here's what the code doesn't give you. It doesn't say how many minutes makes an outage "extended." It doesn't list what to keep or throw away after an outage. And it doesn't mention generators in these sections. Its cold and hot holding limits (section 3-501.16: 41°F or below, 135°F or above for most TCS food) tell you what to measure against. They don't tell you what to do with food that went past them. Those calls belong to your health department.

Power-outage tips written for home refrigerators aren't an authorization for a permitted restaurant either. If you're unsure whether your outage counts, call.

Who makes the call on the shift

The code puts the duty to stop and notify on the permit holder. It also requires the permit holder to be the person in charge, or designate one, and make sure a person in charge is present during all hours of operation (section 2-101.11). At 6 a.m. with the walk-in silent, the person in charge is usually a manager, not the owner.

Our suggestion: decide in writing ahead of time that whoever is in charge on the shift may stop service and call the health department without first reaching the owner. Put that person's name on the incident sheet below.

The decision, in order

1. Write down the time you noticed. This is not the same as when the power went out. If you don't know when it started, say so (see "When you don't know when it started" below).
2. Work out what's actually out. Is it the whole building, part of it, or one piece of equipment? For each area, ask what it needs electricity for: refrigeration, hot holding, cooking, hot water, dish machine, lighting, ventilation.
3. Stop affected operations. Stop prep, cooking and service in every affected area. If you think an area is unaffected, write down why. "The bar is on a separate panel and its cooler still reads normal" is a reason. "We'd rather keep the bar open" isn't.
4. Check for an approved plan. Only a written emergency operating plan that your health department actually approved counts. A draft in a binder doesn't. If your approved plan doesn't clearly cover a power outage, ask the health department before relying on it. Even with an approved plan, you still take immediate corrective action and tell the health department you're using it.
5. Call the health department. Write down the number you called, the time, who you spoke to and what they told you. If nobody answers, write down every attempt and keep affected operations stopped.
6. Measure and record. Take food temperatures with a probe thermometer, unit by unit, and write down what you measured (the food itself or the unit's air display) and who did it. Record readings before you move food anywhere, so the record shows where each item was.
7. Hold, don't decide. Keep affected TCS food out of use, labeled HOLD, until you have a disposition, meaning a decision about what happens to it. If the health department hasn't told you what to do with an item, write UNRESOLVED next to it rather than guessing.
8. Don't reopen when the power comes back. Record the restore time. Then get approval to resume and record who gave it, when, how, and any conditions.

Unaffected area or approved plan: what each situation means

When you don't know when it started

Overnight outages are the hard case. Your own records give you the widest honest window: from the last normal reading you trust to the moment someone noticed. A utility outage notice or an equipment alarm log may narrow that window. Write down both, and say where each time came from. Don't quietly swap your own window for the shorter one. Let the health department see both when it decides what happens to the food.

A blank incident sheet you can copy

This is our suggested record, not a government form. Print it, or paste it into a note before you need it.

POWER INTERRUPTION RECORD

Restaurant / permit number:
Person in charge on shift:
Authorized to stop service and call? yes / no
Permit holder or owner told: name ______ time ______

TIMING
Noticed at: ______ by ______
Start time: known ______ / UNKNOWN
  Last trusted normal reading: ______ at ______ (source: ______)
  Other start evidence: ______ (utility notice / alarm log / other)
Power restored at: ______ (source: ______)

SCOPE
Out: whole building / part / single unit: ______
Affected areas and why:
Areas treated as unaffected and why:
Approved written emergency operating plan for power loss?
  no / yes - plan name and approval date: ______
  If yes: corrective action taken: ______
          health department told plan in use: time ______

STOP AND NOTIFY
Operations stopped (what, time):
Health department number called:
  Attempt 1 time ______ result ______
  Attempt 2 time ______ result ______
  Spoke with ______ at ______ - what they said:

READINGS
Time | Unit / location | Item | Temp | Food or air? | By

HOLD AND DISPOSITION
Item | Amount | Where held | HOLD label time | Decision | Directed by | Time
(No direction yet: write UNRESOLVED and who you escalated to)

REOPENING
Approval to resume given by (name, agency): ______
Time ______  How: phone / in person / in writing
Conditions stated:
Reopened at: ______

Worked example (fictional)

This restaurant, the times, the readings and the inspector's instructions are all made up to show how the record works. The inspector's decisions are not a rule for your food.

Corner Bowl is a 30-seat counter-service restaurant. The closing manager logs the walk-in at 38°F at 10:30 p.m. and leaves.

• 6:40 a.m. The opening manager, who is the person in charge, finds the lights off and the walk-in fan silent. The buildings next door are dark too. The start time is unknown. The last trusted normal reading was at 10:30 p.m., so the restaurant's own records put the start somewhere in a window of up to 8 hours 10 minutes.
• 6:45 a.m. The whole building is out, so there's no unaffected area. Corner Bowl has no approved emergency operating plan. The manager stops prep, puts a closed sign on the door and texts the owner.
• 6:52 a.m. The manager calls the health department's office line, gets a recording and leaves a message. They then call the after-hours number listed on the department's website and leave a second message.
• 7:00 a.m. The manager probes items in the walk-in and writes down each reading, item and location, noting that these are food temperatures, not the unit's display. Several items read above 41°F. Everything TCS from the walk-in and the reach-in goes on HOLD in place.
• 7:10 a.m. The utility's outage page lists the outage as starting at about 2:15 a.m. The manager records that as "reported by utility." That would make the outage 4 hours 25 minutes old at 6:40 a.m. The 8 hour 10 minute window from the restaurant's own records stays on the sheet too.
• 7:25 a.m. An inspector returns the call. They tell the manager to stay closed, keep the held food out of use, and expect a visit at 9:30.
• 8:20 a.m. Power comes back. The owner asks whether they can open for lunch. The manager says no, because they don't have approval yet. Going by the utility's start time, the outage lasted 6 hours 5 minutes. Going by the restaurant's own records, it could have been as long as 9 hours 50 minutes.
• 9:30 a.m. The inspector reviews the sheet and readings. They direct that the listed walk-in TCS items be discarded, and that's recorded item by item. For one case of frozen product in the reach-in freezer, the inspector says they'll call back after checking. It stays on HOLD, marked UNRESOLVED, with the inspector's name.
• 10:40 a.m. The inspector approves reopening by phone, on the condition that the walk-in and reach-in hold 41°F or below before they're restocked. The manager writes down the name, time, method and condition word for word. Corner Bowl reopens at 11:15 a.m. after meeting that condition. It was closed from 6:45 a.m. to 11:15 a.m., which is 4 hours 30 minutes.

Notice what the manager didn't do. They didn't pick the shorter outage window, didn't decide on their own what food could be kept, and didn't reopen at 8:20 just because the lights were back.

Before you reopen

• Power is stable, and any affected equipment is back within your required holding temperatures, measured rather than assumed.
• Every held item has a disposition from the health department, or is still on HOLD and out of use.
• Any cleaning or other condition the health department set is done.
• The approval to resume is recorded: who, which agency, when, how and any conditions.

Set this up before the next outage

• Find your health department's after-hours or emergency number now, and put it on the sheet.
• Ask the health department whether it approves written emergency operating plans for power loss and what it wants in one. FDA's explanation of section 8-404.11 says pre-approval lets the regulator make sure precautions are agreed in advance. Any generator setup belongs in that conversation and with a qualified electrician. This article doesn't cover electrical or generator safety.
• Name who on each shift can stop service and make the call.
• Keep a working probe thermometer where the opener can find it. Keep closing temperature logs too, because they give you a "last trusted normal reading" when the outage happens overnight.

If you're still setting up the rest of your food-safety routines, start with our guide to building your food-safety system before the first order. The hold-and-record approach here works the same way as the one in our supplier recall answer.

Limits of this answer

This explains the FDA model Food Code sections as we checked them on October 5, 2026. It isn't legal advice, and it isn't your local code. Your state or local rules decide whether these sections apply in this form, who you call, and what happens to your food. It doesn't cover electrical, generator or building safety. When local rules and this page differ, follow your health department.

Sources

• FDA Food Code 2026 (PDF), sections 8-404.11, 8-404.12, 2-101.11, 3-501.16, definitions in 1-201.10, and Annex 3 note on 8-404.11, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• FDA Food Code overview, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• Adoption of the FDA Food Code by state and territorial agencies, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• Food Code 2022 and Food Code 2017, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, used to compare section 8-404 wording