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The 5-Second Rule Investigated

Posted by timothy on from the thought-it-was-3-seconds dept.

j-beda writes "Here is an interesting report on a student project about the 5-second rule: ' If You Drop It, Should You Eat It? Scientists Weigh In on the 5-Second Rule.' 'According to Clarke, a senior at the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, the 5-second rule dates back to the time of Genghis Khan, who first determined how long it was safe for food to remain on a floor when dropped there. Khan had slightly lower standards, however; he specified 12 hours, more or less.' How long can you safely leave dropped food on the floor before picking it up to eat? You know you've always wanted to have the definitive answer ..."

6 of 112 comments (clear)

  1. Findings don't just apply to floors by tessaiga · · Score: 5, Funny

    Among Clarke's findings:

    --Cookies and candy are much more likely to be picked up and eaten than cauliflower or broccoli.

    I find the same thing applies to cookies and candies on plates too.
    --
    The bold print giveth, and the fine print taketh away ...
  2. I use the five hair rule by karmavore · · Score: 5, Funny

    I have a dog, four cats a wife two daughters and a niece. If it comes off the ground with more than 5 hairs or if a hair is more than 5 inches it's no good.

    --
    Speech: Free
    Beer: $699.00
  3. Re:um, yuck by Alizarin+Erythrosin · · Score: 5, Funny

    That would explain this case of athlete's stomach...

    --
    There are only 10 kinds of people in this world... those who understand binary and those who don't
  4. Re:um, yuck by vericgar · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually, if you had read the article, they were surprised at how little of that stuff really was on the floor....

  5. so how long does it take? by Mr.Coffee · · Score: 5, Funny

    I , for one, am outraged! the article stated that the E.coli bacteria transferred to the gummy bears in 5 seconds, but they didn't do any testing to see what the minimal time for safety was. how am i supposed to know how long that cookie is still good for?

    --
    Cogito Eggo Sum, I think therefore I'm a waffle
  6. 5 second rule? by Kowh · · Score: 5, Funny

    The five second rule is stricted enforced around here. In fact, usually we don't even get all five seconds. Any dropped food instantly becomes property of the canine clean-up service, and they don't take kindly to "take-backs".

    Or rather they do, but they look at you with puppy dog eyes and you're forced to drop the food again.