The legend of the Easter Bunny bringing eggs appears to have been brought to the United States by settlers from southwestern Germany. A health official hopes the Easter Bunny only brings healthy eggs this weekend and not a food-borne illness.
Oneida County Registered Sanitarian Todd Troskey says a few simple tips can keep everyone from a food-borne illness. Troskey says start out with making sure the eggs are in good shape from the store...
"....make sure the eggs are in good shape and there's not a lot of other residue inside the cartons. When we start off with clean eggs by bringing them home, the entire process from that point on is going to help out...."
Troskey says from a safety perspective the best practice is to buy and prepare eggs that have been refrigerated. If an egg has salmonella, lack of refrigeration will allow bacteria to grow fast. Be aware of cracked eggs...
"....eggs with cracks should be eaten first as there's probably going to be water between the egg and the shell as anytime there's water trapped between the egg and shell it's allowing for the possibility of the growth of bacteria...."
He says as soon as the eggs are boiled, get them cooled as quickly as possible with cold running water. Then remove the eggs from the water and refrigerate them. Troskey says eat hard boiled eggs within one week and peel the eggs with clean hands. As people eat eggs in other ways, Troskey says if fried, egg yolks should be cooked until firm and scrambled eggs should not be runny. Left over eggs should be eaten within one week.
For more information, go to the Oneida County Public Health website or go to food safety.gov
