The 5-Second Rule.

You’ve heard of the 5-second rule: anything that drops on the floor and is picked up within five seconds is still safe to eat. Students at Connecticut College ran an experiment to test contamination of foods dropped on the cafeteria floor.
The results: No bacteria were found on any food left on the floor for up to half a minute. Apple slices and Skittles both got germy after a minute (although one Skittle took five minutes).
That doesn’t mean I would recommend eating off the floor, no matter how fast you are. http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=124914&ran=137637 -via J-Walk Blog

Though it obviously depends on factors like how dirty the floor you're dropping the food on is, what kind of bacteria, what kind of food is dropped and so forth. Not to mention that just "a floor" won't be a proper analogue for all floors out there, the only way to really simulate it is to create a floor with an even amount of bacteria spread over the surface.

Mythbusters did a test similar to the students but used an analogue and found out that it doesn't really matter if it sits one second, five seconds or longer (within reasonable time range) when it comes to bacteria pick-up.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
When I worked at a country club as a chef and a trainee asked if we had a "5 second rule", I said "what is that?" He said, "you know, if you pick it up within 5 seconds you can still serve it." I told him, "no, we have a 'footprint rule', if you can't see footprints on it, go ahead and serve it."
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Login to comment.
Click here to access all of this post's 9 comments




Email This Post to a Friend
"The 5-Second Rule."

Separate multiple emails with a comma. Limit 5.

 

Success! Your email has been sent!

close window
X

This website uses cookies.

This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By using this website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

I agree
 
Learn More