What is the best way to protect my food and medicine?
The best way to protect food and refrigerated medicine is with regular ice in an insulated cooler. Ice is inexpensive, easy to use and readily available from a number of retail sources. It is also the best way to preserve medicines that must be refrigerated. Another alternative is dry ice. Dry ice is available from a limited number of retailers, and there are special handling and safety precautions that must be followed. It takes a lot of dry ice to keep food frozen in a large freezer. For example, 25 pounds of dry ice is needed to keep the temperature below freezing for two or three days in a half-full 10-cubic foot freezer. It takes 50-100 pounds of dry ice to keep a full 18- cubic foot freezer safe for two days. There are also safety concerns if you use dry ice. Gloves or tongs should always be used to handle dry ice, and food should be separated from dry ice with a layer of cardboard to prevent freezer burn. Too much dry ice will freeze refrigerated foods and medicine in a typical
