A size M (-medium) chicken egg weighs between 53 and 63 grams. Assuming an average weight of 58 g, the egg of this grade has about 90 kilocalories (kcal) or 375 kiloJoules (kJ). In addition to eggs of size M, there are also eggs of weight class XL- Very large with a weight of 73 g and more, eggs of weight class L - Large with a weight between 63 g to less than 73 g and eggs of weight class S- Small with a weight less than 53.

At Easter, colored eggs are in high season. Colored, boiled Easter eggs/eggs now available in stores year-round may only be colored with approved food dyes. Only a small specially selected number of dyes (in the natural form only) may be used to color organic eggs.

In addition to the colorants, special coating agents may be used.

Both colored, cooked eggs and raw eggs must be labeled when sold in stores. Different labeling requirements apply in some cases. For colored, cooked eggs, a list of ingredients is also required. More detailed information can be found under technical information.

However, eggs can also be carriers of pathogens such assalmonella.

Eggs are characterized by a high protein content. This egg protein has a high biological value. This means that the protein contained in the hen's egg can be converted very well to form the body's own protein. Furthermore, eggs are suppliers of vitamins (e.g. vitamin A, vitamin D, folic acid and biotin) as well as minerals and trace elements such as selenium.

Cholesterol is a fat-like substance that is a component of our cell membranes. Cholesterol is only present in the yolk of a hen's egg. However, eggs need not be avoided in the diet because of their cholesterol content. If the recommendations of the Austrian food pyramid of a maximum of 3 eggs per week are adhered to, a healthy person can assume that the consumption of eggs has no negative health effects. We support you with our online tool "Food under the magnifying glass" to make an optimal choice of food.

Eggs and egg products are regularly tested as part of official food inspections. In 2022, 16 (3.7%) out of 429 samples analysed were rejected(Food Safety Report 2022). The complaints were almost exclusively due to labelling deficiencies and/or misleading information. None of the samples were harmful to health.

Eggs can be carriers of pathogens such as salmonella. These germs are mainly found on the shell outside or inside the egg (at the boundary between egg white and yolk). During household processing (breaking the eggs), it is impossible to prevent the egg contents from coming into contact with the shell and thus with any germs that may be present on it.

Sensitive persons such as children, pregnant women, sick and elderly people should therefore generally avoid all dishes containing eggs that have not been heated through completely.

Good kitchen hygiene should always be observed when handling raw eggs. This will prevent transmission of pathogens to other foods that are consumed raw. Eggs should never be washed, however, as the natural protective function of the shell is lost and germs can thus penetrate the egg unhindered.

Is there a risk of salmonella infection when blowing out raw eggs?

The risk of contracting a salmonella infection by blowing out raw eggs cannot be proven.

We have clarified thousands of Salmonella infections in humans in the past years. In not a single case was an infection in humans via blowing out raw eggs the cause of the illness.

For an infection to occur, a person would have to ingest a high amount of bacteria (at least 10,000 germs) via food. Even if a chicken egg contained salmonella on the shell or in the egg, this amount of bacteria could not be ingested by a person just by blowing out eggs.

Another argument against a risk is that poultry breeding flocks (laying hens, broilers, turkeys and parent stock) in the EU are nowadays practically free of Salmonella pathogens. As a result, the number of salmonella cases in humans in Austria has fallen by more than 80 percent since 2002, and raw eggs now only pose a salmonella risk in exceptional cases.

Easter eggs have a longer shelf life than raw eggs. The longer shelf life has to do with the heating through and the treatment of the shell. For example, the shells of the eggs are coated with oil (household), carnauba wax or shellac (industrial), this seals the porous shell.

Shelf life depends on the condition of the raw egg before cooking. The better the quality, the longer the shelf life. Purchased colored eggs must have a best before date on the package, but may still be edible after the best before date. However, they should be checked for abnormalities by sensory inspection (sight, smell, taste) before consumption.

For shelf life, it is important to make sure that the shell is undamaged and that the eggs are stored at home at a constant temperature.

Boiled colored eggs can be stored unrefrigerated. However, once the eggs have been stored in the refrigerator, they should always remain stored there until used. Condensation from the room air seeps onto cold eggs, which can seep through the pores of the eggshell and carry germs inside the egg.

Incidentally, a blue-green discoloration at the albumen-yolk boundary of a cooked egg is not a sign that the egg is already old: it only indicates that the egg has been cooked for too long, and this happens relatively quickly when dyeing already hard-boiled eggs in hot dyeing solutions. The iron from the yolk reacts with the sulfur from the egg white during cooking to form green iron sulfide. This discoloration at the boundary of yolk and egg white is harmless, the egg can be eaten with a clear conscience.

Easter eggs/boiled eggs are egg products, as cooking is legally considered a processing step. If they are offered in stores as packaged food, they must be labeled with the following labeling elements according to the requirements of the Food Information Regulation(Regulation EU No. 1169/2011) concerning the provision of food information to consumers):

• Commercial name: e.g. "Boiled and colored (Easter) eggs".
• Name (company or company keyword) and address of the producing or packaging company/farm
• Number of pieces/quantity
• Best before date
• List of ingredients with details of the colorants and coating agents used

Information on how the hens are kept and the producer's farm is only mandatory for raw eggs in the individual egg label, but is no longer mandatory on Easter eggs. However, they may be included by producers as voluntary information in the labeling.

Commercially available Easter eggs may only be colored with approved food colors(Regulation EC No. 1333/2008, Annex II Part B 1). If the color has reached the inside of the egg, the Easter egg can still be eaten without concern.

For organic eggs, colors are used that are primarily derived from products found in nature for red shades these are, for example: Cochineal (carminic acid E 120 - from the scarlet scale insect Coccus Cacti) or Betanin (E 162 Beet red - from red beet).