Posted on 03/29/2016 10:40:21 AM PDT by Red Badger
Many of us are familiar with the "ten-second rule" (also known as the five or three-second rule) - accidentally dropping food on the floor, quickly swiping it up and deeming it still safe to eat. But new research has revealed that this practice isn't as hygienic as we'd like to believe.
Researchers suggest that up to a third of us risk our health by eating dirty food as bacteria sticks to food almost instantaneously, meaning many of us could be ingesting household bugs such as E. coli and Salmonella.
The research, from cleaning technology firm Kärcher, found that 37 per cent of us would eat food that had been dropped on the kitchen floor, while 38 per cent said they would eat food off their living room floor.
The research also found that 49 per cent of us only use a broom to clean and 43 per cent rely solely on an air freshener, though neither method is effective at killing bacteria.
A further 59 per cent said they wait till they see visible signs of dirt before they clean, while 27 per cent admitted to waiting for a bad smell before they decide to take action.
Hygienist Dr Lisa Ackerley, said the "silent killers" in our homes can multiply from a single bacterium to several million after seven hours. Speaking to the Daily Mail, she said: "Regular small bursts of hygienic cleaning is more important than one big spring clean.
"Bacteria and viruses can’t be seen or smelt and are easily destroyed through high temperatures, meaning steam cleaning is perfect."
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
I tried steam cleaning on our wood floors a few years ago;
and the varnish & stuff disappeared. We finished them
ourselves; so admittedly they looked like poop to begin
with - at least I’m sure Fang’s sister made a note of how
poopy they looked. It’s home to me.
Picking French fries out of the waste basket....
What, you never did?
Bacteria are not motile. They depend on being physically picked up, through adherence to another surface or riding along with some other means of motility.
A definite part of your body weight is already bacteria, so a few more ingested or coming into contact with your body do not normally make that much difference. In fact most pathogens have direct antagonists from other species of bacteria, as well as antibodies created by the host on which they find themselves.
The Rule only applies if my Wife isn’t around.
Bought a $5 Dove Bar shaped like Mickey Mouse at Disneyland.
Sitting with a Friend watching the Kids and one of the Ears falls off. It landed on the hard Chocolate side, not the Ice Cream side. I pick it up, wipe it off and eat it.
Mt Friend laughs and says, five second rule? I look at him and say, nope, cheap bastard rule.
There’s no limit if it’s an M&M.
If it’s so harmful to eat food that’s fallen on the floor, then why isn’t there a 90% mortality rate for babies and toddlers?
Nearly 1 year ago they said it was safe or most likely OK...
The ‘five second rule’ suggests that food dropped on the ground is still safe to eat if it is picked up after five seconds. Though long dismissed as wishful thinking, researchers at Aston University in England have now demonstrated that this rule may be more than just a myth.
In a study published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology, researchers dropped various pieces of food – including toast, pasta, ham, a sticky dessert and dried fruit – on the floor and allowed it to sit there for three to 30 seconds. Various floor surfaces were tested including carpet, laminate and tile. Researchers then analyzed the dropped food to determine whether certain strains of bacteria such as Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus had been transferred from the floor.
Overall, the researchers concluded that the faster a person picks up dropped food, the safer it will be to eat – provided that he or she reacts within five seconds of dropping the food. Whether the food is dropped on carpet or tile also makes a difference, with carpet emerging as the safer environment for dropped foods compared to tile or laminate. Moist foods that were left on the floor for more than five seconds were most susceptible to becoming contaminated with bacteria.
“Consuming food dropped on the floor still carries an infection risk, as it very much depends on which bacteria are present on the floor at the time,” said Anthony Hilton, a professor of microbiology at Aston. “However, the findings of this study will bring some light relief to those who have been employing the five-second rule for years, despite a general consensus that it is purely a myth. We have found evidence that transfer from indoor flooring surfaces is incredibly poor with carpet actually posing the lowest risk of bacterial transfer onto dropped food.”
Another surprising finding in this study was that women were much more likely to follow the five second rule compared to men.
“Our study showed that a surprisingly large majority of people are happy to consume dropped food, with women the most likely to do so,” Hilton said in a press release. “But they are also more likely to follow the five second rule, which our research has shown to be much more than an old wives’ tale.”
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/03/14/is-5-second-rule-for-picking-up-dropped-food-safe.html
No! it is not a myth.
Well we have dogs so they impose a 3 sec rule .....because its 3 sec before they get it....
Oddly they never seem to have a problem from eating anything off the floor
It all depends. There’s no set rule.
It depends on the price of the dropped food,
the wetness/stickiness of the dropped food,
whether someone is watching,
and the reflexes of the dog in the room.
If there’s a cat in the house, dropped food goes in the trash, every time.
And you never, ever bend over to pick up something you dropped in San Fagsicko.............
Our dogs watch the food being prepared like a hawk watches a rabbit hole.Sometimes I have to throw them something when the drip drip drip sound of their saliva hitting the floor becomes too much.
or 30 hours........................
If I drop something I wash it, then it’s okay. If it’s a cooked item, like a steak, I nuke it..............................
Late. Similar research already won an Ig Nobel Prize years ago.
You two guys watch waaaaay too much sports.......................
Watermelons get a whole week.
George eats out of a trash can.
Or, we could look at it as a method of keeping our immunities up to date for our local environ.
Research? On 3 seconds and food?
I am in the wrong business.
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