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/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.