Is the five-second rule true? Scientists have an answer

Most people say this is the five-second rule. For those of us who are brave, it’s 10 seconds.

But what does science say when it comes to the safe amount of time to eat food that has fallen on the floor?

It depends – firstly on the type of food and secondly where you drop it.

‘Wet’ foods – such as chunks of watermelon, apples and deli meats – attract more bacteria more quickly than dry foods such as chips or cookies.

So with these foods, the less time on the ground, the better, experts say.

Although the bathroom and kitchen harbor the most bacteria (about 700 per square foot), there is no safe place for bacteria to escape in your home, as at least 400 of the microscopic germs reside in spaces like your living room, according to one research. study this year.

That study found that per 100 milliliters of water, there are 30,000 bacterial cells on sidewalks, including feces and E. Coli, which are then tracked into your home and transferred to any food you drop on the ground.

Although holding the food under water removes some of the visible particles such as dust or hair, it does not remove the germs it has picked up from the floor, regardless of whether it was within five seconds.

“Unfortunately, the five-second rule is a myth,” Dr. Wendi Lebrett, internist and gastroenterologist. Food and wine.

Some people believe that the five-second rule originated with the Mongolian ruler and tyrant Ghengis Khan, who demanded that people still eat food that fell to the ground at his banquets.

Others attribute it to Julia Child’s cooking show in the 1960s, when she picked up a pancake that fell on the stove and told her viewers that it was still okay to eat.

A 2016 study from Rutgers University looked at four types of food: watermelon, bread, bread and butter, and gummy candies.

Their findings showed that watermelon had the most bacteria after the five-second rule (97 percent), while bread and bread with butter had 94 and 82 percent, respectively.

Gummy candies showed that 62 percent of bacteria were attached to them.

While that may seem like a small amount in comparison, scientists have warned that harmful bacteria exist on every surface we come into contact with and can be transferred to food as soon as it comes into contact.

Food acts as a magnet for bacteria such as salmonella, E. Coli, Listeria and even feces if it falls on the floor, which can make you sick and cause digestive problems.

The process takes less than a second, with your food acting as a magnet for bacteria like salmonella, E. Coli, Listeria and even fecal matter that can cause digestive upset and food poisoning, including vomiting, diarrhea and fever over 103 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bacteria are very adept at adhering to food thanks to tiny structures called fimbriae, which act like a caterpillar’s hairs and allow the beetle to climb trees.

Even though science shows how quickly bacteria attach to food, says nutritional scientist Donald Schaffner of Rutgers University that the five-second rule will most likely continue.

“People really want this to be true,” he said National Geographic. ‘Everyone does this; we all eat food off the floor.”

A special 2007 study by Clemson University food scientist Paul Dawson revealed similar findings, explaining that food picks up bacteria as soon as it hits the floor.

Dawson and his team experimented by dropping sliced ​​bologna onto various floor surfaces, including tile, wood and carpet.

They found that more than 99 percent of the bacterial cells were transferred from the tile to the bologna after just five seconds.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that each year 48 million Americans become ill from a foodborne illness and 128,000 people are hospitalized.

It is unclear where the so-called five-second rule began, and some people thought it may have been influenced by Child when she mentioned the idea on her cooking show in 1963.

After dropping a pancake on the stove, Kind said, “You can always pick it up when you’re alone in the kitchen.” Who’s going to see it?’

However, the first version of the five-second rule was most likely devised by Khan in the 15th century, who is rumored to have implemented the ‘Khan Rule’ at his banquets.

“If food falls to the floor, it can stay there as long as Khan allows it to,” Dawson and food microbiologist Brian Sheldon wrote in their book “Did You Just Eat That?”

“In reality, humans did not have much basic knowledge about microorganisms and their relationship to human disease until much later in our history,” they continued.

‘So before we came to this realization, eating lost food was probably not taboo.

“People couldn’t see the bacteria, so they thought wiping away visible dirt made everything okay.”

But it wasn’t until 1995 when the first written reference to the five-second rule appeared in the novel “Wanted: Rowing Coach,” which referred to a “20-second rule” and resurfaced in the 2001 animated film “Osmosis Jones.” character followed the ’10-second rule’.

If one thing is certain, the timeline is only going to get shorter, as research has shown that the longer food is left on the ground, the more bacteria it will collect.

Ultimately, it may be time to switch to a new mantra: “When in doubt, throw it out.”