Five Second Food Rule - Fact or Myth?

Is it really safe to eat food that you dropped on the floor as long as you pick it up within five seconds?

16:32 15 September 2015

According to an urban myth, it’s okay to eat the food if you pick up within five seconds as dirt and germs won’t have much of a chance to contaminate it. But is five seconds on the floor really the critical threshold that separates an edible food from a case of a food poisoning?

 

A recent research claims that it depends on how much bacteria can get to the food in a few seconds and just how dirty the floor is.

 

The research made use of inoculated squares of tiles, carpet, and wood with Salmonella. The researchers then placed a piece of food, either bologna or bread on the surface for five, 30, and 60 seconds before they assessed the amount of bacteria transferred to the food.

 

The researchers concluded that the amount of time that the food was in contact with the contaminated surface was irrelevant and that the more important factor is the amount of bacteria on the surface. They also found that the kind of surface also made a difference. For instance, carpets seem to be slightly better places to drop food than wood or tile. Based on the study, only one per cent of the bacteria was transferred on food that were dropped on the carpet. This number soared to up to 70per cent when the food was in contact with tile or wood.