Member Article

Five-second dropped food rule busted

Two US students have claimed that the five-second rule for how long food can remain on the floor before it is no longer safe to eat is an underestimation, and that 30 seconds is closer to the truth. The students at Connecticut College studied the five-second rule as part of their microbiology class, reports ABC News.

Student Molly Goettsche said: “It is an eye-opener. There may be a little more time than just seconds.”

First they dropped Skittles sweets and apple slices on the school’s dining hall floor for different lengths of time. Then they swabbed the food for samples and checked for any bacteria. Their conclusions may be a relief to those who rescue fallen food: it took more than 30 seconds for bacteria to cultivate on the apple slices, which represented wet food. As for the Skittles, which stood in for dry food, it took longer than a minute.

But despite their findings, the students said they would never eat anything that’s hit the ground. Goettsche said: “I don’t know if I would ever eat off that floor.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .