Who is not looking forward to a delicious egg at Easter, even more so if it is invitingly colored with Easter egg colors. But is the food coloring on the eggshell really harmless? Often enough, the egg is also slightly colored under the shell, as the color can penetrate through small cracks in the egg and is then eaten.
Not everyone can tolerate the dyes
Brightly colored eggs from the supermarket have been treated with food coloring. Usually, this is also labeled. These Easter egg colors are in themselves considered safe for health.
But not everyone tolerates all the permitted dyes. Often, artificial substances are used to color the eggs, which can trigger allergy-like reactions (pseudoallergies) in sensitive people.
Easter egg dyes questionable for allergy sufferers?
The fact is that you have to be careful with certain Easter egg dyes. Especially the frequently used azo dyes are questionable for allergy sufferers and can trigger skin redness, itching or in the worst case even a neurodermatitis attack or asthma attack!
The following dyes are considered potentially harmful to health:
- E 122 for red eggs
- E 151 (brilliant black) for blue eggs
- E 102 (tartrazine) for yellow eggs
- E 104 quinoline yellow
Two colors are considered safe:
- E 140 (chlorophyllin) for green eggs.
- E 160b (bixin, norbixin) for orange eggs.
Easter egg colors: Natural and non-toxic
A look in Grandma’s bag of tricks helps: the alternative namely are dyes from natural pigments, which are not quite as bright, but guaranteed non-toxic. The best known are onion peel, beet juice, elderberry juice and ivy leaf juice. However, allergy sufferers should also exercise some caution here if they react to certain plants anyway.
Easter egg colors make yourself
The following shades are offered by Mother Nature to conjure up on the shell of eggs for Easter:
- Chamomile, caraway or saffron dye eggs yellow.
- Red cabbage and beet make eggs red.
- Elderberry juice gives them a bluish hue.
- Black tea colors white eggs brown, rooibos tea dark yellow to orange.
- Cranberries bring pink to the shell.
- Spinach and nettles achieve shades of green.
- Blueberry juice gives them a purple tinge.
- Onion skins shade the eggs yellow-brown.
Two tips to finish:
