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The 5-Second Rule and Fallen Food: Fact or Fiction? - Cleveland Clinic
The short answer from a registered dietitian
Food that lands on the floor will pick up some bacteria. That is a fact. But will that contamination be enough to give you gastric regret? That’s the question at the heart of the debate concerning the “5-second rule.”
To start, the concept behind the rule about eating dropped food is solid. The less time food spends on the floor, the fewer bacteria it picks up. Kind of common sense, right?
But the 5-second rule “is a significant oversimplification of what actually happens” regarding bacteria transfer from floor to food, according to a 2016 study published in an American Society for Microbiology journal.
The short answer from a registered dietitian
Food that lands on the floor will pick up some bacteria. That is a fact. But will that contamination be enough to give you gastric regret? That’s the question at the heart of the debate concerning the “5-second rule.”
To start, the concept behind the rule about eating dropped food is solid. The less time food spends on the floor, the fewer bacteria it picks up. Kind of common sense, right?
But the 5-second rule “is a significant oversimplification of what actually happens” regarding bacteria transfer from floor to food, according to a 2016 study published in an American Society for Microbiology journal.