Five Second Rule Is A Farce

When you drop food on the floor, do you adhere to the "five second rule"?  If so, you may be putting yourself at risk.  A new study by Rutgers University reveals that the five-second rule about food falling on the floor is a myth. Researcher Donald Schaffner says bacteria contaminates food the moment it touches the floor. ''The five-second rule is a significant oversimplification of what actually happens when bacteria transfer from a surface to food."

In another study, Jillian Clarke from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, swabbed the floors around her lab.  Surprisingly, very few microorganisms were found.  Meredith Agle supervised the study.

To control the study, cookies and gummi bears were placed on both rough and smooth sterile tiles covered with measured amounts of E. coli. "We did see a transfer of germs before five seconds," Agle tells WebMD. "We were dealing with a large number of cells."

So how many people are familiar with the rule?  70% of women and 56% of men said they were familiar with the rule. Women were more likely to invoke it. There's no surprise that people are inclined to eat dropped cookies and candy more often than dropped broccoli and cauliflower. ;-)