The "Five Second Rule" is Real: Study

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There might actually be some truth to the "five second rule," according to a study just recently released by a team from the Aston University School of Life and Health Science.

The study, which has yet to published in any peer reviewed journal, has already gained a noteworthy amount of media attention due to the fact that it attempts to comprehensively prove or disprove the details concerning the "five second rule once and for all."

The five second rule, an urban legend popular among people who dare not let their food go to waste, claims that food that has dropped onto the floor for five seconds or less is still perfectly safe to eat.


According to study lead Anthony Hilton, a professor of Microbiology at Aston University, in most cases the five second rule actually proves true, with even potentially harmful microbes needing more than five seconds of contact to contaminate food.

According to an Aston press release about the study's preliminary findings, time and the type of floor are significant factors that determine the transfer rate of most harmful bacteria, but nearly all need more than five seconds.

Researchers determined this by monitoring the transfer rates of Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (Staph infection) from a variety of indoor floor types to a variety of different surfaced foods including toast, pasta, and a sticky candy.

They found that laminate floors to stick/moist foods had the highest transfer rates. Carpets and dry foods, like the toast, had the lowest transfer rates. It was noted that even in the case of the laminate floor and the sticky candy, it almost always took more than five seconds to transfer enough bacteria to pose a threat to a consumer.

Interestingly, in an accompanying survey, the same team found that nearly 87 percent of the survey participants are willing to eat food dropped on the floor and have done so. In a surprising turn of events, the majority of those who claimed to follow the five second rule were women.

These findings, which have yet to be published in a comprehensive peer-reviewed journal, are to be viewed as preliminary findings.

The Aston University press release was published on March 10.



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