tangomonster
Full time employment: Posting here.
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2006
- Messages
- 757
In a world where we have to worry about idiots getting on planes with TB and other communicable diseases, I was happy to read about a study that verified the 5 second rule that people have always joked about: that it's safe to eat something that is dropped on the floor if it's five seconds or under. Turns out it's okay for even six times that amount. Whew! One less worry.
Here's the article:
A pair of biology seniors at Connecticut College decided to test the oft-cited maxim that food that sits less than five seconds on a floor remains safe to eat.
They used a well-traveled section of the college cafeteria; apple slices "because they were free," and Skittles, because there's an assumption that dry food is less susceptible to contamination, said researcher Molly Goettsche.
To simulate the real world, food was dropped off the edge of a cafeteria table. One pair of edibles sat on the floor for five seconds; others for 10, 30, 60 seconds; and, finally, for five minutes. They repeated the experiment under the supervision of a biology professor.
P O L L
Would you eat something that sat on the floor for more than five seconds?
Yes, I'm not picky
No, that's gross!
Depends on the food
The results: No bacteria were found on any food left on the floor for up to half a minute. Apple slices and Skittles both got germy after a minute (although one Skittle took five minutes).
Goettsche, 23, and heading for a career in bio tech market research, said she won't eat from a floor despite their findings.
"Use your discretion," she advised. "I don't want to be responsible for changing the five-second rule to the 30-second rule."
__________________
Here's the article:
A pair of biology seniors at Connecticut College decided to test the oft-cited maxim that food that sits less than five seconds on a floor remains safe to eat.
They used a well-traveled section of the college cafeteria; apple slices "because they were free," and Skittles, because there's an assumption that dry food is less susceptible to contamination, said researcher Molly Goettsche.
To simulate the real world, food was dropped off the edge of a cafeteria table. One pair of edibles sat on the floor for five seconds; others for 10, 30, 60 seconds; and, finally, for five minutes. They repeated the experiment under the supervision of a biology professor.
P O L L
Would you eat something that sat on the floor for more than five seconds?
Yes, I'm not picky
No, that's gross!
Depends on the food
The results: No bacteria were found on any food left on the floor for up to half a minute. Apple slices and Skittles both got germy after a minute (although one Skittle took five minutes).
Goettsche, 23, and heading for a career in bio tech market research, said she won't eat from a floor despite their findings.
"Use your discretion," she advised. "I don't want to be responsible for changing the five-second rule to the 30-second rule."
__________________