Tips for Safe Handling, Dyeing and Eating Easter Eggs
We hope you are planning time with the family this Easter. Whether your Easter plans include bunnies hopping down the trail, baskets, bonnets or candy, chances are eggs may have a role. Coloring, hiding and eventually eating Easter eggs has been a long-held tradition for many families. But are they safe to eat?
Leftover easter eggs are safe as long as they haven’t been sitting at room temperature for more than two hours. But unless your family completed that egg hunt in record time, or you remembered to refrigerate your eggs before hiding them, they’re probably not safe to eat. So, for the happiest of Easter memories, follow these safety tips for your Easter festivities this weekend.
Wash your hands, cleanliness is important when dyeing eggs
First, wash your hands and your working area thoroughly. Remember cleanliness at every step including cooking, cooling, and dyeing of eggs.
Refrigerate your hard-boiled eggs
It is important to refrigerate hard-boiled eggs if you won’t be coloring them right after cooking and cooling. Color only eggs with no cracks. If any eggs crack during dyeing or while on display, discard them along with any eggs that have been out of refrigeration for more than two hours.
If hard-boiled eggs are kept out of the refrigerator for over two hours, for decoration or hiding, discard the eggs immediately after use. When shell eggs are hard-boiled, the protective coating is washed away, leaving the pores in the shell open for bacteria to enter. This is why hard-boiled eggs spoil faster than fresh eggs.
Hard-boiled eggs should be refrigerated within two hours of cooking and used within one week.
If you want to keep your decorated eggs on display for a bit longer, try emptying them and decorating blown out eggs.
If you hide eggs, avoid areas where the eggs might come into contact with dirt, pets, wild animals, birds, reptiles, insects or lawn chemicals.
Keep more than your eggs safe this Easter
This holiday weekend, take along Tasty Clean to keep your hands sanitized and to clean those baby bottles, pacifiers, and toys your babies and toddlers will be putting in their mouths. Make this year’s Easter eggs hunt and festivities safe and fun with Tasty Clean.
**To keep your Easter happy and safe follow these tips. But egg safety doesn’t end at Easter! Learn more egg safety tips at Egg Safety Center.