Wasteful Response to Power Outages

This morning CBC News had a story about cleaning up Slave Lake, AB, razed by fire. One aspect is refrigeration equipment in Slave Lake being discarded because it contained spoiled food following a prolonged power outage. This is an extremely wasteful solution to a common problem. I have experienced it several times in my lifetime and there is a simple solution. Literally, the solution is a tablespoon of sodium bicarbonate/baking soda in a litre of water. Put the solution in a sprayer and crack open the door of the refrigeration unit just far enough to spray the interior. Close the door and wait a minute. Repeat a few times. Finally open the door fully and spray down the interior thoroughly. This will neutralize the acidic/sulphurous gases that cause the odour making it an easy job to transfer the contents to garbage bags for disposal. A final spraying and rinsing and wiping of the interior will have it as good as new saving hundreds of dollars on the price of new equipment and a load on the landfill.