Is it really possible to eat food that fell on the floor before the five seconds mark?

“It’s okay, it was on the floor for less than five seconds, I can eat it.” » Who has never heard this phrase? According to a British study, more than 87% of us have this idea. It’s hard to have to throw away a square of chocolate, a slice of cake, or a piece of truffle Comté cheese, all because you dropped it on the floor for a few seconds. Do you think time plays a role in the accumulation of bacteria in foods? This is partly true, but not entirely.

5 Second Rule: It’s all about the surface

In 2003, Jillian Clarke, a student at the University of Illinois, received an Ig Nobel, the prize that recognizes research that “first makes you laugh and then makes you think.” In her study, she conducted the experiment on several foods, including sweets and biscuits, dropping them onto tiles previously coated with E. Coli bacteria, some strains of which can be pathogenic, causing gastroenteritis, urinary infections, meningitis.

After observation under the microscope, he was able to notice it the contamination occurred in less than five seconds on these foods.

A few years after publication, another team also addressed the issue, but this time by studying the floors on which food fell, noting the differences between tiles, parquet or even carpet. And what emerged from their observations was this the carpet became contaminated much less quickly the slice of sausage they had used, unlike the parquet or tiled floor. Amazing, isn’t it?

5 second rule: consistency also counts

This topic clearly fascinates scientists, as a third study has been published, which takes into account new factors, but above all new foods. Different scenarios were applied: bread, buttered bread, gummy candies or even watermelon were put in contact with stainless steel, tile, wood and carpet.

And what came out of it was this the more humid a food is, the more quickly it becomes contaminated. The watermelon, for example, was contaminated in less than a second, the humidity favored the circulation of the bacteria.

The researchers concluded:

“While this research shows that the five-second rule is ‘real’ in the sense that longer contact time results in greater transfer, it also shows that other factors, including the nature of the food and the surface, are of equal or greater importance The five-second rule is an oversimplification of what actually happens when bacteria move from a surface to a food. »

The 5-second rule: foods less contaminated than others

Finally, in 2017, Anthony Hilton conducted a new study in the kitchens and living rooms of 40 homes in the city of Birmingham, England. Different types of food were thrown onto different types of floors, from hardwood to carpet. He concluded that foods such as lasagna or gummy bears were the most contaminated by remaining on the floor for longer periods of time, while dry biscuits or chocolate picked up only a little bacteria, even when left on the floor for several minutes.

Anthony Hilton added, regarding the possibility of getting sick after ingesting spilled food:

Obviously, foods covered in visible dirt should not be eaten, but as long as they are not visibly contaminated, science shows that these foods are unlikely to have picked up dangerous bacteria after just a few seconds on an indoor floor.

In the end it’s all a matter of common sense. Would it occur to us to eat food that fell on the street? If it has been proven that eating food that has fallen into our living room is not potentially dangerous for our health, this is obviously not the same for food that falls onto a sidewalk where you can see thousands of dirty shoes, spit, dog pee and so on. .

Overall, what emerges from all these studies is that yes, it is possible to stick to the five-second rule without dying of food poisoning, but you also shouldn’t overdo it and complain about being drunk. Enjoy your meal !

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