Posted on 05/12/2007 1:50:22 PM PDT by neverdem
A COUPLE of weeks ago I saw a new scientific paper from Clemson University that struck me as both pioneering and hilarious.
Accompanied by six graphs, two tables and equations whose terms include “bologna” and “carpet,” it’s a thorough microbiological study of the five-second rule: the idea that if you pick up a dropped piece of food before you can count to five, it’s O.K. to eat it.
I first heard about the rule from my then-young children and thought it was just a way of having fun at snack time and lunch. My daughter now tells me that fun was...
--snip--
What do these numbers tell us about the five-second rule? Quick retrieval does mean fewer bacteria, but it’s no guarantee of safety. True, Jillian Clarke found that the number of bacteria on the floor at the University of Illinois was so low it couldn’t be measured, and the Clemson researchers resorted to extremely high contamination levels for their tests. But even if a floor — or a countertop, or wrapper — carried only a thousandth the number of bacteria applied by the researchers, the piece of food would be likely to pick up several bacteria.
The infectious dose, the smallest number of bacteria that can actually cause illness, is as few as 10 for some salmonellas, fewer than 100 for the deadly strain of E. coli.
Of course we can never know for sure how many harmful microbes there are on any surface. But we know enough now to formulate the five-second rule, version 2.0: If you drop a piece of food, pick it up quickly, take five seconds to recall that just a few bacteria can make you sick, then take a few more to think about where you dropped it and whether or not it’s worth eating.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
1) The dog does it often, and it was not an isolated incident.
2: The dog did the same thing before our last date, and I kissed her.
3: Kiss her then get tested for roundworms.
I guess its a slow news day
Of course I’d kiss her. But I’d be relying on that other health axiom. You know, the one about a dog’s mouth being cleaner than a human’s. Has that one been tested yet?
We had a 240 pound mastif and a 135 pound great dane that lived in the house. The rule was if you could pick it up before a dog got it, it was safe to eat. Most dropped food never even made it to the floor.
“Here is a dilemma though. You have a really beautiful girlfriend. You go to her house with flowers and candy. You are about to kiss her and her dog licks her mouth first. Do you still kiss her?”
Did you ever stop to think that the reason the dog licked her face just after you got there was that the dog didn’t want to lick her face after YOU kissed her?
If she’d kissed her cat on the mouth she’d be germier.
Till death or roundworms do us part.
I don’t know about a dog’s mouth being cleaner. I have a friend whose dog has a habit of picking up kitty turds with his mouth.
Fine. If that’s the way the dog is going to act, see if he gets any table scraps from ME!
Recycling!
Oooooooooh. Yer just itchin to get someone banned for a few days aren’t you?
Yes. Give her lips a minute for the dog lick to dry and then kiss her. Would you kiss her if the mailman just licked her lips?
bump
"Certain human beings, that is. I don't want to leave the impression I'm easy."
Clemson University should get on the research to finally prove that calories evaporate out of broken cookies and sliced cake. I’d support giving them a government grant for that.
I would have some serious questions for her and the mailman before proceeding.
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