For the sake of the experiment, let’s assume we’re talking about a kitchen floor.
In: Biology
No. It’s less to do with time, and more to do with how much bacteria is present at the point of impact, as well as the type of material. [https://newrepublic.com/article/122782/five-second-rule-real-food-scientist-explains](https://newrepublic.com/article/122782/five-second-rule-real-food-scientist-explains)
Children have a really hard time telling how much time has past, and also have difficulty telling how clean or dirty a floor is. Parents use this to their advantage. Drop a lollypop in the grass? 5 second rule, don’t eat. Drop a crisp in the kitchen? It’s probably fine
Watch the MythBusters! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODfbaZ9_XzQ
No, time has no effect on direct contact contamination – the qualities of the food and the surface itself are the biggest contributors.
You can do an experiment yourself. Take salt/sugar, pour it on a plate, drop any food you want on it, and try to pick it up immediately after it hits the plate. You’ll notice that no matter how fast you pick it up, there is **always** salt/sugar stuck to the food.
Now remember that bacteria and viruses are smaller, more plentiful, and way stickier than that salt/sugar, and you realize pretty quickly that no, there isn’t any truth to the 5 second rule.
Michael from Vsauce has a very good take on this. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYXdsOEWBj0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYXdsOEWBj0)
The 5-second rule is based on an assumption that bacteria and germs _act like people._ That when you drop food, they go “ooh, food!” and then _run over and hop on it._ So if you can just pick up the food fast enough, you’ll get to it before they do. In reality, the germs are all over the place. When you drop food, it lands on the germs and gets them all over itself immediately.
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