Egg Safety - Egg Innovations

What You Should Know

Great dishes depend on eggs that are in top condition. Here are some egg-handling pointers to remember.

	Select clean, fresh eggs from refrigerated display cases. Don't use dirty, cracked or leaking eggs. They may have become contaminated with harmful bacteria.

	When you come home from the grocery store, promply refrigerate the eggs with the large ends up. Store them in their cartons because eggs easily absorb refrigerator odors.

	To store raw egg whites, refrigerate them in a tightly covered container for up to 4 days. Refrigerate raw yolks covered with water in a tightly covered container for up to 2 days. Refrigerate hard-cooked eggs in their shells for up to 7 days.

	When cracking eggs, avoid getting any eggshells in with the raw eggs. Also, when seperating eggs, don't pass the yolk from shell half to shell half. Instead, use an egg seperator so if bacteria are present on the shell, they won't contaminate either the yolk or the white.

	Be sure to wash your hands, utensils, and countertop after working with eggs.

	Serve hot egg dishes as soon as they are cooked. Refrigerate cold egg dishes immediately. Chill leftovers promply and reheat thoroughly before serving.

	Eating uncooked or slightly cooked eggs may be harmful because of possible bacterial contamination. The individuals most susceptible include the elderly, infants, pregnant women, and those who are already ill. Check with your doctor to see if you are at risk. If you are, you probably should avoid eating foods that contain raw or partially cooked eggs. Healthy people should eat raw eggs with discretion.

	Sometimes hard boiled eggs have an unattractive but harmless greenish ring around the yolk. To minimize the chances of a ring forming, time the cooking carefully. Also, cool the hard-cooked eggs in ice water. Click here to see the recipe for hard boiled eggs.