Easter Egg Safety: Tips by the Dozen

Easter is a holiday full of traditions such as collecting and decorating eggs. Are you keeping your eggs safe as you hunt and enjoy them? 

Here are a dozen Easter egg safety tips:

  1. Only buy eggs that are sold from a refrigerated case.
  2. Don’t buy cracked eggs because cracks can cause contamination.
  3. Check expiration or sell-by date and don’t buy out-of-date eggs.
  4. Eggs should not go unrefrigerated for more than two hours, so if yours have been on display in your Easter basket, don’t put yourself or your family at risk by allowing them to be eaten.  Consider cooking two sets of eggs: one for hiding or displaying, one for eating.
  5. To store eggs safely, place them on a shelf inside the refrigerator and not in the spaces provided in the door. This will make sure eggs stay at a consistent, cold temperature at or below 40°F. 
  6. Use eggs in shells within three weeks for best quality.
  7. Hard-boiled eggs—whether in the shell or peeled—do not keep as long as raw eggs do.  Play it safe and discard all leftover Easter eggs within one week of cooking.
  8. Wash hands thoroughly, and make sure children wash hands, before and after handling uncooked eggs.
  9. Wash utensils, equipment and work surfaces with hot, soapy water after they come in contact with raw eggs.
  10. After the hunt, don’t eat eggs that were hidden in dirty places or came in contact with pets or other potential sources of bacteria. The eggs could be contaminated and make you sick.
  11. When decorating, only use dyes that are food-grade and food-safe. Dye the eggs in warm water so the eggs don’t absorb the dye.
  12. Never eat raw eggs – or products containing raw eggs. Take the cookie rookie pledge!

By following these tips, help keep your family and friends food safe as you celebrate Easter this year.

Food & Nutrition Magazine
Food & Nutrition Magazine publishes articles on food and diet trends, highlights of nutrition research and resources, updates on public health issues and policy initiatives related to nutrition, and explorations of the cultural and social factors that shape Americans’ diets and health.