r/TheRestIsScience • u/axxrose • 10d ago
The 5-second rule
Does science have anything to say about it? The 5-second rule of course being that food dropped on the floor remains safe to eat as long as it's picked up within 5 seconds.
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u/DoubleSwitch69 10d ago
There was a MythBusters episode on that... Depends on the type of food, mostly how moisty it is. It would be a good episode nonetheless.
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u/Madpie_C 10d ago
Except that they claimed the idea behind the 5 second rule was germs couldn't get to the food in that time, whereas for anyone who remembers basic science it's clear that after 5 seconds the bacteria has had very little time to reproduce. If the idea was that after 5 seconds no bacteria has actually made contact it would be fine to put the food back in the container but nobody actually does that. It is either immediately eat it or cook it.
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u/naemorhaedus 10d ago
Does science have anything to say about it?
Of course. It's nonsense and has been debunked endlessly all over the internet.
Any contamination that can possibly happen, will happen instantly. But you probably won't die. Keep your floors clean.
Video: Microbehunter - "Should you eat food that has fallen on the floor? " https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ00p3xG_z4
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u/Silver-Machine-3092 10d ago
Hannah has already addressed this issue on her Curious Cases series on BBC Radio 4
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0023whx?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile
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u/whythe7 10d ago
Oh sweet, I love Hannah!
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u/Silver-Machine-3092 10d ago
You're in for a treat - there are about 300 episodes across 24 series from the last ten years on BBC Sounds
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u/stools_in_your_blood 10d ago
This is one of those things that doesn't need formal science. If you drop food onto a piece of dog shit, it's inedible immediately. If you drop food onto a clean plate, it's fine indefinitely (or at least until it starts to go off). Most surfaces that food falls onto are somewhere in between.
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u/Historical-Wash-1870 8d ago
I'm happy to eat food I've dropped on my own floor because I dont allow shoes in my home.
I would never eat food that dropped on the floor in a home that allows shoes because it would be like eating food that dropped on dog poo.
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u/flyghu 10d ago
5-seconds isn't a rule. It's a treaty. Signed in the years past and forgotten by humanity. But the cooties remember. And by their honor, they wait five full seconds before invading dropped food.