Food to keep in for an emergency in Ireland

How many days should you plan for?

The Irish booklet and checklist say to keep food that will not spoil quickly, rotate it and account for everyone’s dietary needs. Neither sets a number of days or a number of tins per person. ^{[1] [2]}

UK comparison: the government’s Be Ready guidance recommends three days of food that needs neither cooking nor refrigeration. Use that as a starting point for your own plan, then discuss any additional needs with those who support your household. It is a planning benchmark, not a promise that every disruption ends then. ^[3]

Ireland’s Be Emergency Ready booklet gives no fixed number of days for food; UK guidance offers a three-day comparison, not an Irish requirement. Include safe water, baby feeding needs, special diets and pet food. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Build it through normal shopping

Start by checking the cupboard. Write down what your household would actually eat, then fill gaps gradually during ordinary shopping, as your budget allows. The Irish booklet encourages building supplies over time; UK guidance also recommends checking what you already own and adding missing items on regular shopping trips. There is no need to panic buy or buy everything at once. ^{[1] [3]}

Our practical way to use that advice: sketch breakfast, lunch and dinner for your chosen period, include snacks you normally eat, and check which meals still work without heat. Use your household’s usual portions rather than a universal tin count. ^{[1] [2]}

Choose food you can eat without cooking

Make ready-to-eat food the foundation. The UK comparison lists tinned meat, fish and vegetables, dried fruit and nuts; HSE advice includes tinned food and long-life UHT milk. Choose foods suitable for your household and read preparation, allergen and storage instructions on each pack. ^{[3] [4] [9] [12]}

HSE suggests a flask of hot water as a backup for rehydrating dried foods. Our planning rule is to count kettle meals separately from no-cook meals: if your kettle, hob or oven needs electricity, plan how you would eat when it is unavailable. ^[4]

Read Staying warm and cooking without power before choosing an alternative cooking method. Never use camping stoves or barbecues indoors or inside a tent: they can cause carbon monoxide poisoning. ^[5]

Allow water for drinking and food preparation

Use the drinking-water quantities and household calculations in Water outages and boil water notices, and allow separately for preparing food. During a Boil Water Notice, Uisce Éireann requires boiled and cooled water for drinks and foods eaten uncooked, such as washed fruit or salads. Its guidance also covers pets and baby feeds. ^{[2] [6]}

Plan for everyone who eats with you

Babies: if you use formula, the Irish checklist recommends an extra supply of ready-to-feed formula. It needs no added water, but feeding equipment still needs cleaning and sterilising. Follow the pack’s instructions after opening, including refrigeration and disposal requirements. ^{[2] [6] [7] [8]}

Powdered formula is not sterile. Follow the HSE preparation instructions exactly, including the water temperature and powder amounts; bottled water still needs boiling. Ask your public health nurse or GP about feeding options if safe preparation is not possible, or your baby needs a special formula. ^{[7] [8]}

Allergies and special diets: choose food that fits the person’s existing diet and check ingredients and “may contain” warnings when buying it. A general emergency shopping list cannot decide what is suitable for someone with an allergy or prescribed diet. ^{[2] [9] [10]}

Medical nutrition and swallowing difficulties: keep following the plan agreed with your healthcare team. HSE describes tailored diets, supplements and tube feeding as individual treatments, and recommends supplements only on professional advice. Our practical planning step is to ask your dietitian or nurse what supplies to hold and what to do if water, refrigeration or powered feeding equipment becomes unavailable; record that answer with your contacts. ^{[10] [1]}

Older people: check that they have food and someone to help with shopping or meals. As a practical check, ask whether they can open and prepare what is in the cupboard. HSE recommends checking on older people before bad weather and identifies the GP or public health nurse as a contact for Meals on Wheels. ^{[11] [10]}

Pets: include their dietary needs in the food and water plan, as the Irish checklist says, and use Pets and animals in an emergency for the wider animal plan. ^[2]

Store it and use it in rotation

Keep cupboard food in a cool, dry place where its label permits, and follow any instructions to refrigerate after opening. Use a first in, first out routine: put new shopping behind older stock, while bringing anything with an earlier date to the front. Replace what you use as part of normal shopping. This is a practical way to follow the Irish checklist’s rotation advice. ^{[2] [12]}

A use by date is a safety deadline: do not eat food after it. A best before date concerns quality. Both depend on correct storage, and opening a pack can change how it must be stored and how soon it must be used. ^[12]

Keep a manual tin opener with the food and check that the person who will use it can operate it. The tin-opener reminder also appears in UK council emergency guidance. ^[15]

During a power cut: protect chilled and frozen food

Keep fridge and freezer doors shut as much as possible. Note when the electricity went off and open Power-cut mode for the food timer. These are the same figures used by that timer, with safefood’s fridge guidance and FSAI’s distinction between full and half-full freezers. ^{[13] [14]}

These are guides, not food-safety verdicts. The appliance, food temperature and condition matter. Never taste food to test safety, and smell alone cannot establish that it is safe. If you cannot establish that perishable food stayed safe, discard it. ^{[13] [14]}

The Irish checklist says to use fresh and refrigerated food first, but only while it remains safe; that advice does not override the food-safety checks above. ^{[2] [13]}

Checklist to print or copy

• Check existing food and choose the period your household is planning for. ^{[1] [3]}
• Add familiar no-cook food gradually through normal shopping. ^[3]
• Check preparation instructions and keep a manual tin opener. ^{[12] [15]}
• Plan drinking water and water for food preparation using the water guide. ^{[2] [6]}
• Include baby feeding supplies, dietary needs, medical nutrition and pets. ^{[2] [8] [10]}
• Agree help with shopping or meals for anyone who needs it. ^{[10] [11]}
• Check dates, storage instructions and rotation when putting shopping away. ^{[2] [12]}
• Keep the fridge and freezer closed during an outage and record its start time. ^{[13] [14]}

Booklet material used: gradual preparation, food rotation, household dietary needs, ready-to-feed formula and using safe fresh food first, rewritten from Be Emergency Ready. ^{[1] [2]}