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QUINCY, ILL. -- Chances are you'll be dying Easter eggs or even having an egg hunt at your home this weekend.

Health experts warn that precautions are needed to keep your family safe this Easter.

If you're planning on dying and hunting Easter eggs this year, it's important to follow food safety rules to prevent illness like salmonella.

Wash your hands before and after handling eggs.

And keep eggs at the proper temperature.

Like meat, eggs can spoil quickly if they aren't kept at the proper temperature.

So if your eggs are being used in Easter egg hunts, limit the amount of time they are being handled outside the refrigerator ... or use plastic eggs during your hunts.

Adams County Health Department officials say Easter eggs are safe, but you shouldn't eat them if they've been out of the refrigerator for more than 2 hours.

The same goes for cracked eggs.

Rex Pflantz, LEHP, with the Adams County Health Department said, "It's like an egg you would eat normally, if it is cracked, you'd throw is away and not use it. It's the same with Easter eggs, even if they're hardboiled we don't want to take the chance of someone getting sick."

Click here to read more tips and recipes for safe eggs from the University of Missouri Extension.