Egg Safety at Easter time The American Egg Board recommends that you keep fresh eggs refrigerated until it's time to cook them.
Eggs are a potentially hazardous food, in the same category as meat, poultry, fish, and milk.
In other words, they are capable of supporting the rapid growth of disease-causing bacteria like Salmonella. If you won't be coloring your eggs right after cooking them, store them in their cartons in the refrigerator. Refrigerate them again after they've been hidden and found. Don't eat cracked eggs or eggs that have been out of refrigeration for more than two hours. If you plan to use hard-cooked eggs as a centerpiece or other decoration, cook extra eggs for eating and discard the eggs that have been left out for many hours or days as a decoration.