A Dozen Egg Safety Tips for Easter

Every year there are reports of illness caused by eggs, particularly from raw or lightly cooked eggs in dishes such as custards, puddings, hollandaise sauce or Caesar salad dressing.

Easter eggs, because they’re more often thoroughly cooked, aren’t quite as risky. But Salmonella can be found on both the outside and inside of eggs.

Here, as a reminder, are a dozen commonsense tips about Easter eggs:

1. Choose the freshest eggs possible

2. Eggs should be refrigerated at 6°C or colder.

3. Wash your hands thoroughly handling uncooked shell eggs.

4. If you plan to hollow out eggshells, use pasteurized shell eggs.

5. Hard cook eggs instead of boiling them

6. Use only food-grade dyes and food-safe decorating materials.

7. Wash your hands between all the steps of cooking, cooling, dyeing and decorating.

8. Once the cooked eggs are decorated, return them to the refrigerator within two hours.

9. If you’re going to use eggs as decorations in braided breads, serve the baked goods within 2 hours

10. Consider using one set of eggs for eating, and another set for hunting.

11. If you’re going to hide real eggs outside, be sensible.

12. Eat properly refrigerated, hard-cooked eggs within 7 days.