Hey, NJ! Experts Say Not To Eat Your Jack-O-Lanterns After Halloween

So, your costumes are picked out, the candy bags are bought and ready in the bowl, and the yard has been taken over by all of your spooky decorations. You're officially ready for Halloween.

Halloween is hands down, one of the BEST holidays of the year. It's definitely the most fun. Most would agree to that point. Still, it's 2nd to Christmas in terms of break-down. The clean-up after Halloween is over can be extremely aggravating.

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If you're someone whose fall décor is geared more towards Halloween itself rather than the autumn season, then you always have quite a bit of work to do come November 1st. The ghosts and ghouls go away, the tombstones get packed up, and the Jack-o-lanterns need to be disposed of sooner rather than later or else they'll go bad.

What are you supposed to do with the pumpkins you and the family took all that time to carve? Well, we can tell you what you're NOT supposed to do with them.

You can use a pumpkin as a cooking ingredient or as a decoration, but not both. That means that NO, you can't eat a pumpkin you turned into a Jack-o-lantern at the beginning of the season. Honestly, why would you even want to? Think of all the bacteria that's had more than two weeks to grow inside that thing.

You'd be surprised, though... people still think they can.

Here's what the food experts want you to know. Pumpkins are a low-acid vegetable, so that means once they're cut and sit at room temperature, pathogens will grow rapidly on the skin. You don't want to be ingesting anything that's been festering on the pumpkin's surface since the time it was originally carved.

Think about this, too. It's not exactly like pumpkin carving is the most sanitary activity. Not everyone is washing their hands before carving, washing the pumpkin, carving them on clean surfaces, using clean tools, etc.

Here's what you CAN do, though! Save the seeds! Roasted pumpkin seeds are a favorite fall snack!

Source: Huffpost.com

If you're still looking for a cool costume idea, might we suggest something NJ related: The Jersey Devil!

To keep the kids safe this Halloween, make sure they know these rules: