Five-second rule
The five-second rule, or sometimes the three-second rule,
There appears to be no scientific consensus on the general applicability of the rule,
History
The origins of the five-second rule is unclear. In the book Did You Just Eat That?: Two Scientists Explore Double-Dipping, the Five-Second Rule, and other Food Myths in the Lab food scientist Pawl Dawson and microbiologist Brian Sheldon trace the origins to legends surrounding Genghis Khan in the 15th century. Supposedly, the Mongol ruler is rumoured to have implemented the “Khan Rule” at his banquets. “If food fell on the floor, it could stay there as long as Khan allowed,” and the idea was that “food prepared for Khan was so special that it would be good for anyone to eat no matter what.”[7]
Research
The five-second rule has received some scholarly attention.
University of Illinois
In 2003, Jillian Clarke of the
Rutgers University
Researchers at
A pediatrician criticized the study for discounting the danger in consuming food after one touches other surfaces like refrigerator handles, light switches, and wallets, which have been found to be similarly contaminated with bacteria.[14]
Other
A 2006 study at Clemson University was unable to verify the rule, when looking at tile, wood, and carpet floors. It indicated that bacteria can survive on the ground for a long time.[15]
A 2014 study by biology students at Aston University in England suggested that there may be a basis for the five-second rule.[16] Anthony Hilton, head of microbiology at Aston University, indicated in 2017 that food dropped on a seemingly clean floor for a few moments can be eaten with minimal risk.[17] According to Hilton, moist foods that are left on the floor for more than 30 seconds are contaminated with 10 times more bacteria than food that has been left on the floor for 3 seconds.[18]
Informal
The five-second rule was featured in an episode of the Discovery Channel series MythBusters, which discovered that there was no significant difference in the number of bacteria collected. The aspects that affect the contamination process is the moisture, surface geometry and the location.[19] An episode of Food Detectives found that bacteria will cling to food immediately.[20]
References
- ^ (7 February 2006) Getting the dirt of the 5-second rule, Southeast Missourian
- ^ Leanna Skanulis (2007). "'5-Second Rule', Sometimes". WebMD. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
- ^ Sefton, Dru (2003). Intern Puts Science Behind the Five-Second Rule, Newhouse News service
- ISBN 9780533133246.
- ^ (16 May 2007). Kissing Away the Germs (letter to editor), The New York Times
- ^ Mayer, Johanna. "The Origin Of 'The Five-Second Rule'" Science Friday, 20 February 2019.
- ^ "The Origin Of 'The Five-Second Rule'". Science Friday. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
- ^ Julie Deardorff "Capsule: The five-second rule" Los Angeles Times, August 9, 2010, accessed January 18, 2011.
- ^ University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences. Archived from the originalon 2015-09-14. Retrieved 2013-05-04.
- ^ "Improbable Research". improbable.com. Archived from the original on 2009-08-30. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
- S2CID 19871846.
- ^ McGee, Harold (2007-05-09). "The Five-second Rule Explored, or: How Dirty Is That Bologna?". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
- ^ "The 'five-second rule' for eating food? Scientists just demonstrated how gross it is". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-02-10.
- NYTimes.com.
- S2CID 19871846.
- ^ "Researchers prove the five-second rule is real". Aston University.
- ^ Ryan Hooper (March 15, 2017). "'Five-second rule' for food dropped on the floor approved by germ scientists". The Independent (UK). Retrieved March 15, 2017.
- ^ Greenemeier, Larry. "Fact or Fiction?: The 5-Second Rule for Dropped Food". Scientific American. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
- ^ "Annotated Mythbusters: Episode 39 Chinese Invasion Alarm, 5 Second Rule". Retrieved 2008-08-17.
- ^ "Food Detectives, Episode OF0101". Archived from the original on 2011-05-06. Retrieved 2011-01-31.