Can you refreeze thawed food?

Refreezing food is not dangerous, the danger is that food can spoil before it’s refrozen or after it’s thawed again before being cooked and eaten. Freezing food does not kill bacteria, so once thawed bacteria continue to multiply at the same exponential rate it was multiplying before being frozen.

Refreezing also hits quality because the already slightly damaged cells are being expanded with ice crystals again. This isn’t a big deal for meats or baked foods but is huge for rice, pasta, fruits and veggies. But try to figure out how long things have been thawing/thawed to help you make a safe decision. And never feed a pet food you wouldn’t eat, they can get food poisoning too.

Toss it if

• Temperature went above 4.5ºC
• There is an odor
• You have any doubts the food is still safe Refreeze if
• Food still has ice crystals. Use your best judgment here, something big like a turkey could be really warm and thus unsafe while there are still ice crystals in the cavity.
• Cook any raw meats that thawed but are still under 4.5ºC, but not icy, before refreezing.
• Be careful with prepared/cooked foods, it's best to reheat and eat them instead of refreezing them because of the risk of bacteria.

Source: www.favouritefreezerfoods.com