This is What You Need to Know about The Colorful Easter Eggs

Colored eggs from the supermarket are practical because they are already cooked and colored – this is a welcome time saver for many consumers at Easter. But the colorful eggs also have disadvantages.

Colored eggs from the supermarket – little information on the pack

In the past, colored eggs were only found on supermarket shelves around Easter. They are now available all year round.

• As practical as the already boiled eggs are, a lot of information is missing on the packaging.
• While raw eggs have to be marked and proof of origin and the way the animals were kept must be printed on them, the colorful Easter eggs from the shelf do not have to have any of these markings. The reason for this is that they are no longer considered “eggs” but a “processed egg product”. The pack only shows the manufacturer and the expiry date.
• They don’t know where the eggs come from and whether they’re organic, free range, barn, or caged.
• However, you can usually assume that the cheaper caged eggs will be used.
• An exception is colored eggs, the packaging of which bears the “KAT” seal. This seal is awarded by the “Association for controlled alternative forms of animal husbandry KAT” and guarantees that the eggs come from barn, free-range or organic farming.
• The eggs are not really evenly colored, but they have a nice shine. That’s because the makers seal the eggs with a mixture of shellac and palm wax after they’re cooked and dyed. Colors and sealing are approved as food additives and are therefore harmless.

Easter eggs from the supermarket – shelf life and storage

The colorful Easter eggs from the supermarket usually have a long shelf life.

• An egg is perfectly packaged by nature: the shell protects the inside from germs. The shelf life of the eggs is further extended by the sealing described in the first paragraph. The fact that the eggs are cooked is also crucial for shelf life.
• However, cracks can appear in the shell during cooking – ideal entry points for germs. You can easily see this with the colored eggs from the supermarket: When peeling, you will often find color on the egg itself – here the shell cracked during cooking, so that color could get inside the egg.
• For this reason, the eggs should also be stored in the refrigerator. If the shell is damaged, the germ load is kept low by cooling. Since the eggs are not in the refrigerated section in the supermarket, it is also worth taking a look at the best-before date. If you look for a shelf life that is as long as possible, then you can assume that the eggs have not been stored unrefrigerated for that long.
• Even if the colored eggs from the supermarket are practical, coloring Easter eggs yourself is a nice tradition.