Is it okay to eat food that has fallen on the floor

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The five second rule says that something that is picked up quickly is not considered to be down. It is generally accepted that food that has been lifted off the floor for five seconds can still be eaten. We figured out if this is so.

In 2003, Harvard University student Jillian Clarke spent time tied to the five-second rule. Within its framework, she interviewed several hundred people and found out their opinion about this rule.

It turned out that 70% of women and 56% of men believe that if you quickly pick up food from the floor, you can still eat it, since the bacteria do not have time to "run over" to the fallen object. It also turned out that cookies and sweets are picked up much more often than broccoli and cauliflower.

For her research, Clarke received the Shnobel Prize and became the youngest Harvard student ever to receive one.

But the purpose of the study was not to find out public opinion, but to prove or disprove that the rule works. Clarke and her colleagues took samples from university floors in the campus, lab, and cafeteria. The analysis showed that the floors are relatively clean and do not contain a lot of bacteria. The experiment was repeated with the same result. The conclusion was simple: food that falls on the floor can be picked up and eaten within five seconds or any other time without health consequences.

However, the researchers did not stop and decided to check what would happen to food that fell on the floor, teeming with bacteria. Small amounts of E. coli or Escherichia coli bacteria were applied to the floor. Then, pieces of cookies and candy were placed on top of it. The bacteria were found on all food even after a few seconds. The rule has been overturned.

But Paul Dawson of Clemson University was dissatisfied with the study's findings. He decided to find out how many bacteria are transmitted in five seconds and whether there is a difference between food lying on the floor for five seconds or, say, a minute.

Researchers applied salmonella bacteria to wood floors, tiles, and carpet. Five minutes after that, the bolognese pasta or bread was placed there for 5, 30 and 60 seconds. The experiment was repeated several times after the bacteria had been on the floor for 2, 4, 8 and 24 hours.

Dawson and his colleagues found that the amount of bacteria on food did not depend on how long it was on the floor - a couple of seconds or a minute. But they also found out something else.

The total number of bacteria on the floor decreased over time, and the fewer there were, the less they were later found on food.

It turned out that the surface is also important. Carpet transferred fewer bacteria to food than tiles and wood. Food picked up from carpet contained 1% of all bacteria, and from tiles and wood, 48 to 70%.

Dawson adds that floors and carpets are often free from harmful bacteria. However, if there are millions of bacteria on the floor, then even 0, 1% of them can lead to illness. For example, 10 bacteria of the viral E. coli can be fatal to a person with a weak immune system. But the chance that they end up on an ordinary surface is minimal.

Can I eat food off the floor? Better not.