"food on the ground" news and stories

We've all heard of the Five Second Rule, that food rule that says when you drop a piece of food, as long as you pick it up within five seconds it's still OK to eat. Anything more than five seconds then you should throw it away.

This short film (after the jump) by Sam Lehman shows the two different kinds of the Five Second Rule and how it can be misused. If you drop something on the ground, you have to pick it up within five seconds. However, even if you do pick it up within five seconds, the rule should be thrown out if that food landed in...well, you can see in the video after the jump.

By the way, if you think that a lot of restaurants don't serve you food even after a piece of food has been on the floor for more than five seconds, you're crazy.

One of the most popular and long-lived old wives' tales is known as the "5-second rule". The "rule" stipulates that food that has fallen on the floor is still safe to eat if you pick it up within five seconds of it hitting the ground. It has been around for many, many years, propagating itself on school playgrounds across the country and possibly even the world. Variations exist, shortening the rule to 3 seconds or expanding it to 10, but the basic theory remains. Unfortunately, it isn't true, as the Sacramento Bee's Lisa Heyamoto found out.

While some people, from 3 to 93, will continue to believe in the truth of this tale, the reality is that most surfaces are covered with germs and bacteria and floors are no exception. Drier foods, like cookies or a bagel, are less likely to pick up unsavory particles than wetter foods, like meat and cheese. Of course, we are all coming into contact with bacteria every day, whether we're cleaning our counter with a kitchen sponge (bacteria breeding ground) or giving our pets a pat. There is very little that can be done to avoid all contact. Ms. Heyamoto reminds us not to believe that we're "safe" when we follow the rule, but that your comfort level with what your food comes into contact with is subjective. The kitchen floor? Sure. The sidewalk outside your office? Perhaps not.

You can't go wrong following the other food rule: "When in doubt, throw it out!"

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