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, its 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, its 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 its 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 couldnt 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 its worth eating.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
You kissed the dog?
You kissed the dog?
Funny thing, I actually did run into my prom date at a 35th reunion! She lost her puppy fat and turned into a fox.
child #1 drops the pacifier, you quickly retrieve and
sanitize before returning it to the baby
child #2 drops the pacifier, you wipe it off on your
shirt and return it to the baby
child #3 drops the pacifier, you let the dog lick it
and you pop ‘er back in
btw, our pooch always smothers patton with kisses
and i still kiss my guy. ;)
The Mythbusters did the study, long before this goofy article. Food is easily contaminated when it touches anything, so don’t eat it unless you are an otter and wash everything beforehand.
LMAO! (Laughing my airedale off.)
I ate dirt when I was a kid and am still alive to type this. Imagine that! (Though I did have my tonsils yanked at 5 years old, and remember that too! But never had strep throat since.. imagine that!)
Unless I drop it on a pile of dog poop (or the equivalent) I pick it up and eat it. If there is dirt or grass on it I brush it off or blow it off. I never got sick that I know of.
I wouldn’t eat the ice cream cone dropped in dirt unless I had a way off gettint the dirt off. I don’t like eating gritty stuff or stuff with rocks in it.
I once dropped a hot dog at a beach part and brushed it off. I missed a pebble and cracked a tooth.
ROTFLO! We're going to start using that rule at our house. We have a lab who is a chow hound. If we can beat him to it, it will have barely touched down!
LOL. Or rub it on your shirt sleeve.
Agreed. A dropped cookie or cracker is one thing. Anything sticky or moist gets chucked.
That said, I had a cat who would steal the ham out of my sandwiches and who guzzled milk right out of my glass and had to be told to share if I wanted any. I drank after him essentially every meal and never ended up sick from it.
I had a cat once that drank tequilla. Straight. Named him Quervo.
LOL yikes! I’ve heard of pets who’d lap at beer before but never hard liquor.
I have a kitty who has been having respiratory problems. Thinking about starting him on whiskey, for medicinal purposes of course.
Pica wasn’t even thought of when I was a kid. LOL! But luckily, it was only dirt I ate... Sheesh!
Ooooo...Come and give mama some sugar....
I honestly didn’t see your post before I posted mine. Same idea, same photo. We’re pretty sick individuals...
Actually the question is,”Is that the last piece of balogna for the next 100 miles? Should I eat it or should I suck rocks? Doh. EAT IT.
Ack!
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