Whats the 5 seconds rule based on? Is it actually okay to eat food thats been dropped on the floor as long as it hasn’t been in contact with the floor for more than 5 seconds?
In: Biology
It might be about embarrassment from eating off the floor. If no one saw it drop, you have 5 seconds to recover before anyone sees it and knows it fell. Some people may have shamed others for eating dropped food and the 5 second rule may have been a way to avoid and reduce the shame.
Fun fact: the Five Second Rule can reset itself.
It’s been seven seconds since that perfectly golden, crispy French fry hit the floor? Pick it up and drop it. Five Second Rule!
It’s based on schoolyard urban legend and nothing more. When something touches something else that has bacteria or viruses on it, it’s transferred instantly.
The 5 second rule is completely made up. Once food touches any surface, there is a very high likelihood that it will be contaminated. Now, if the contamination is enough to cause sickness or other side effects could be determined by the amount of time that the food was in contact with the surface, but would also be dependent on the contaminant itself and many other factors.
It’s made up. Microbes don’t see your dropped food and move onto it, they stick to it when they come into contact with it. So, while whole minutes or more can give a lot more time for dirt and bugs to accumulate, there’s no real difference between five seconds and 0.1 seconds.
It’s fake, and it has been disproven many times, by different science oriented youtubers. I don’t remember exactly, but I think it gets “contaminated” as soon as it touches the floor, but depending on the type of floor how yucky it is. Carpets are the yuckiest and hardwood floors aren’t. You are mostly going to be ok but might get a nasty bug someday.
A lot of factors go into play when determining if dropped food is still edible. As others have said, microbes don’t walk to your food…they stick to it. Therefore, if you drop something “moist” like a piece of cheese or something, best to err on the side of caution. Dropping something dry like a cracker is a good excuse to use the 5 second rule.
I guess WHERE you drop it matters too. Drop it on a relatively clean desk? Safe enough. Drop it in a public bathroom? Nah G.
How long is it socially acceptable to eat something from the floor?
At our house, 5 seconds is the maximum amount of time you are likely to be able to retrieve the food before the dogs get it. Germs have nothing to do with it.
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