Posted on 03/15/2014 6:16:17 AM PDT by JoeProBono
New research finds that there is some truth to the so-called "five-second rule" -- the belief that food is safe to eat if picked up from the floor in under five seconds.
Researchers at Aston University in Birmingham, U.K. studied the rate of bacteria transfer in food items dropped on the floor and picked up within three to 30 seconds. They found that the amount of time an item spent on the floor was directly related to bacteria levels.
"Time is a significant factor in the transfer of bacteria from a floor surface to a piece of food," read the study findings.
The team practiced dropping different types of food -- toast, a cookie, sticky candy and pasta -- and studied the results. Not surprisingly, the moist, sticky foods were more likely to pick up bacteria when compared to the dry foods.
The researchers determined that levels of bacteria transfer in food dropped on tile and laminate floor for five or more seconds, while still low, were higher than carpeting.
"We have found evidence that transfer from indoor flooring surfaces is incredibly poor," said microbiology professor Anthony Hilton, who led the study, in a prepared statement, "with carpet actually posing the lowest risk of bacterial transfer onto dropped food."
The research has yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, and findings should be considered preliminary....
How wasteful… I'm a fan of the 5-minute rule.
;)
LOL!
Retrievers are good at this sort of thing…...
Bwahahaha!!!! Us too. :-)
In connection with the "kiss it up to God" corollary, yes.
Mr. niteowl77
The problem is that food might not survive five seconds on the floor with the source of the dog hair around. One... Two... Crunch!
I think it’s the British this time.
“Slurp! Slurp! Lick! Slurp! Smack!! Yum! Yum! - Burp!! It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s gotta do it! Slurp!”
if you have two dogs in the house, its unlikely dropped food will hit the floor and if it does it will be immediately scarfed up n microseconds by the pets-unless its bananas.
It’s three seconds.
small bit of gratitude
i agree that childern who aren’t “hovered over” and eat some dirt and stuff gain some immunities and are less likely to develop allergies.
also the 5 second rule is proportional to the cost of the food dropped. truffles and saaffron can stay on the ground much longer. saffron, for example, is $2400+ a pound so it can safely stay on the floor for hours.
Good illustration to my post LOL
When we had our dogs, five seconds would have been an eternity, they’d have already inhaled whatever it may have been.
That’s what my mother always used to tell me my kitchen would look like. Sorry to have disappointed her, but my kitchen’s always been spic ‘n span.
I saw an apartment just like that in Montpelier, Vermont years ago...
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