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?

Question

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

Answer 1

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.