When it comes to dropped food, can you trust the five-second rule?

[99explorer]

They say that dropped food will be safe to eat if it is picked up from the floor within five seconds.

[Henry]

No, it picks up germs regardless of the time spent on the floor.

[MattM37]

Depends on whose house the floor is in. I have aunts whose floors are probably safer than my dining room table. Other relatives -- well, they invite me to dinner and I'm tempted to brown-bag it.

[jhjimbo]

IF there is an organism there it will be picked up immediately. Technicians pickup bacteria cultures off a petri dish by just touching them with a wire loop instrument - no delay at all.

[dewman]

By "they" I'm assuming you mean those who eat with their fingers and consider spoons and forks superfluous and by those who have predisinfected their digestive systems with a generous alcohol bath. Only grilled ribeyes and porksteak can withstand such abuse. : )

[Treestand]

Only if I can't beat my pit bull to it;-))......Lol never yuk yuk!!

[Happy Myles]

It makes no difference, at my age I cannot bend over in five seconds

[dewman]

It makes no difference, at my age I cannot bend over in five seconds

Right there with you!

[crm3006]

Depends on whether it is a dropped steak, or a dropped Frito.

[Pray- hunt-work]

All depends where you dropped it....

[jhjimbo]

As clarification, bacteria on the floor may not contain pathogens. In addition most bacteria would be killed in your stomach, except the pathogens and if they are present in large enough numbers you are going to get sick. Other contamination could be parasites like worm larva your dog may be leaving around. They can grow to a large size and present problems as adults.
Viruses are another possible problem and as we know there are some real pathogenic ones out there. Viruses can live for many hours on a surface using only the humidity from the air to survive.
Your body is full of saprofitic bacteria that actually protect you from some pathogens. But, if you take a lot of antibiotics or other things that may reduce their number you may be opening yourself up to serious infection.
All this is Microbiology 101 and you can read up on it in text books.

[Red Angus]

All depends where you dropped it....

^^^this^^^

[Red Angus]

It all depends on what food and the condition of the floor.

Just this afternoon in an unfortunate turn of events whiIst I was eating lunch I dropped my yeti and then in a hasty attempt to prevent the contents from completely running out on the floor of the tractor I lost my fried chicken into the accumulation of dirt and Lord knows what else under the brake pedals. A truly devastating sight to say the least. However, after rinsing it off with my water jug it tasted good, perhaps a wee bit gritty, but good.

[99explorer]

It all depends on what food and the condition of the floor.

Just this afternoon in an unfortunate turn of events whiIst I was eating lunch I dropped my yeti and then in a hasty attempt to prevent the contents from completely running out on the floor of the tractor I lost my fried chicken into the accumulation of dirt and Lord knows what else under the brake pedals. A truly devastating sight to say the least. However, after rinsing it off with my water jug it tasted good, perhaps a wee bit gritty, but good.

When I first posted this question about five years ago, someone answered,
"I live by it!"

[Pmacc60]

Absolutely if you pick it up in 5 seconds or less , after 5 seconds you must institute the ten second rule .