When we drop a piece of food, we often invoke the “5-second rule,” the principle that if you pick it back up before five seconds, it’s all right to eat. That sounds pretty bogus, as if bacteria took awhile to travel, but two studies show that there is some validity to the rule.
From Matthew Alson Thornbury, Does the 5-second rule really work?, AOL News:
There’s almost nothing worse than getting ready to take a big bite of some delicious food…and then dropping it right on the floor. But if being a kid taught you anything, it’s that if you can pick it up before counting to five, it’s safe to eat. I mean, it’s the five second rule – everyone knows about it and it just has to be true.
Right?
Well, actually, yeah, it kind of is right. Two studies, one performed in 2007 at Clemson University and a new one from Aston University in England, show that, yes, the quicker you get to some downed food, the better chance there is of it not picking up bacteria. And if you get to it under five seconds, usually, germs probably haven’t had time to transfer to your nosh.
Of course, this all depends on a variety of factors…
…first, moist foods like deli meats will become contaminated quicker than dry foods like toast. So if you drop that sandwich for more than five seconds, throw that meat out – but at least the bread’s okay.
Also, the type of floor can make a huge difference in how quickly that food gets contaminated. Believe it or not, carpet is less filthy than tile or laminate floors. One study showed that Salmonella transferred from carpet in less than 1% of cases studied, while hardwood floors transferred 70 percent.
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