The 5-Second Rule. - Neatorama

Youâ€™ve heard of the 5-second rule: anything that drops on the floor and is picked up within five seconds is still safe to eat. Students at Connecticut College ran an experiment to test contamination of foods dropped on the cafeteria floor.

The results: No bacteria were found on any food left on the floor for up to half a minute. Apple slices and Skittles both got germy after a minute (although one Skittle took five minutes).

That doesnâ€™t mean I would recommend eating off the floor, no matter how fast you are. http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=124914&ran=137637 -via J-Walk Blog

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Whatever you do, just don't drop it on some ice.

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If it were really safe, then you could also suck spilled liquids off the floor.

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What if you're eating a big sloppy piece of pizza and you drop it in front of the urinal trough in the men's room of Fenway Park?

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Why do you have dog crap on your floor?
Clean it up, you pig.

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When I worked at a country club as a chef and a trainee asked if we had a "5 second rule", I said "what is that?" He said, "you know, if you pick it up within 5 seconds you can still serve it." I told him, "no, we have a 'footprint rule', if you can't see footprints on it, go ahead and serve it."

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