Easter Egg Safety Tips

DETROIT (WWJ) - It's a holiday tradition: coloring, hiding and then eating eggs. But are those eggs safe to eat?

Children's Hospital of Michigan Executive Chef Jeffrey Stein says you wouldn't make a sandwich, hide it in the backyard for hours, and then go back and eat it later — and it's not a good idea with eggs either.

Stein says that if you're planning to eat the eggs you color, it's easiest to just make more than you'll need for hunting, and keep some in the fridge until you're ready to eat them.

"Keeping any kind of food product — eggs included —  below 40 degrees when we're going to consume them is important," Stein said. "If we have them above 40 degrees for more than two hours, that's when we start to have problems."

Stein said it's also important to wash your hands when you're cooking, decorating and eating the eggs. And, he says, make sure to use the proper dye.

"Whatever we use to decorate our eggs, think about the face that the eggshell is semi-permeable," said Stein, "to allow gas, air, and water to penetrate through to the egg. So, anything we put on the egg as the potential to penetrate — so make sure we're using food-grade decorations on there, too."

Get more tips HERE.