One of the worst things that could happen when eating your favorite dish is dropping one of the last few bites on the floor. You debate whether you should throw that piece out…. or pick it up and eat it because it has only been on the floor for almost 5 seconds. One’s instinctual reaction would be ‘quick 5 second rule!’ since germs could not cover a piece of food that quick but is that true?
Studies show that this myth is indeed a lie.Yes, I know this is devastating news especially when it was your last bite to that delicate triple chocolate cake. To make sure that you will try not convincing yourself to eat that dropped item, just think about how E. coli could be covering it. During high school, Jillian Clarke was the first person to test out this 5 second rule in 2003 at her internship in University of Illinois. She covered different areas on the floor with bacteria (E. coli) and discovered that it was found on the dropped food after picking it up within five seconds. E. coli is not the only thing that we could ingest after picking up food, we could also be consuming salmonella.
Also, studies show that women are more likely to pick up food instead of men, so be careful ladies and stay healthy! People prefer picking up sweets and fruit over vegetables and other foods. It seems like there is something special about those sweets we all love and crave that we cannot get enough of and are willing to “die” for. So will you think twice before eating what fell on the floor?
Photo Courtesy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Five_second.png
Sources:
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/mythbusters-database/5-second-rule-with-food.htm
http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/five-second-rule.htm
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/features/5-second-rule-rules-sometimes-?page=1
I posted the wrong link on my comment. It was supposed to read, “Yikes! I am definitely guilty of this. I did think that there was the obvious potential of getting sick from a little germ-ridden food. However, I would have never thought that by just simply dropping a piece, kissing it up to the sky & popping into your mouth could infect with such damaging bacteria such as E. Coli and Salmonella. I will most definitely take this into consideration next time I am deciding whether or not the Chipotle I’ve dropped on the floor is worth eating.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/12/10/5-second-rule_n_2272288.html ”
Welp, it definitely sucks that the five second rule is a total lie but at least I actually know the truth now. What an informative blog post!
The five second rule was proved wrong by the experiment with e.coli. However, is this an accurate measure of the rule’s effectiveness? The surface that the intern dropped food on was intentionally polluted with the e.coli. I would argue that if the food was just dropped randomly and picked up within 5 seconds, there would be much less of a chance that harmful bacteria would be deposited
This is definatly a shock because ever since I was a kid my mom always would shout “5 SECOND RULE” to me and my sister which makes me wonder if she just wanted to make sure we would pick it up off the floor after it fell. After reading this article, http://gizmodo.com/the-five-second-rule-will-make-you-sick-and-maybe-dead-880976235 it made me wonder why I thought nothing eating food after I picked it up off the floor when we’re told from such a young age that everything is covered in germs.
I’ve always found the five second rule to be sketchy. I usually don’t eat food off of the floor unless I know exactly what’s been on that floor…and about 99% of the time it means I won’t eat it. Good to know I was right to be cautious!
I still live by my 5-second-rule! I won’t eat off of the commons floor, but my household kitchen floor is literally clean enough to eat off of. Apparently, a MTA employee said the Times Square floors “are clean enough to eat off of!” That is definitely a statement I wouldn’t personally test, but this article is highly entertaining.
Oh man…. I’ve been using that 5 second rule for the longest time now. I didn’t know that I’ve been ingesting salmonella and e-coli the entire time… I’ll never do it again, and warn every other guy against it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYXdsOEWBj0
5 second rule videooo
Yikes! I am definitely guilty of this. I did think that there was the obvious potential of getting sick from a little germ-ridden food. However, I would have never thought that by just simply dropping a piece, kissing it up to the sky & popping into your mouth could infect with such damaging bacteria such as E. Coli and Salmonella. I will most definitely take this into consideration next time I am deciding whether or not the Chipotle I’ve dropped on the floor is worth eating.
http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/features/cold-relief-6-sleep-tips-to-help-you-breathe-easier
I’ve always known that the 5 second rule wasn’t true… not that it has stopped me. However, I didn’t realize all of the diseases that you could get from it! The article below states that dry foods are less likely to be contaminated. It doesn’t make it okay…but I might still eat that oreo.
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500368_162-1774287.html
I love the 5 second rule! It seems like a waste of time, money, and food to throw something out just because it hit the ground. Logically, the five second rule doesn’t make much sense. Why would more bacteria decide to jump onto the food after 5 seconds then originally? Really it’s just something I say to make it more acceptable to eat food off the ground, although I do have some standards. For example, if the floor is clearly grimy I won’t eat the food, but i won’t be happy about it! This floor is unacceptable to eat off of for me :http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/030/6/b/abandoned_warehouse_dirty_floor_tracks_by_laundromat1970-d4o6h36.jpg
Haha, thank you for this article. It’s interesting that it doesn’t matter how long the food is on the ground. I’m sure everyone can agree that E Coli is no joke. I feel like we as humans like to make up fake rules for ourselves. After googling about it – it’s crazy how much research has been done on the subject, yet the facts are still ignored. Thanks for the informative article!