The 5 Second Rule

[Fishtigua]

A spurious study has said that the 5 Second Rule is dangerous for dropped food. Yes it may be, if you incubate it for hours. When eaten straight away, bacteria can't grow.

Nothing wrong with the Rule, right?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21945313

[Boo152]

Depends. What if youve dropped it on the toilet floor?

[Fishtigua]

Who the hell eats in the bog? It's as uncouth as using the phone in there. YUCK!

[calibrax]

Fishtigua said:

A spurious study has said that the 5 Second Rule is dangerous for dropped food. Yes it may be, if you incubate it for hours. When eaten straight away, bacteria can't grow.

If bacteria can't grow after you eat it, then nobody would ever get food poisoning would they?

[Megaflow]

It's only a 5 second rule when the wife's around. When she's not its more like a 15-20 second rule, it's never done me any harm.

[Mr Roper]

If I break the 5 second rule I then use my emergency 3 second rule.

[mattdaniels]

It's always been the 10 second rule in my house.

[sc0tt]

5 second rule here.

[RealSquirrels]

calibrax said:

Fishtigua said:

A spurious study has said that the 5 Second Rule is dangerous for dropped food. Yes it may be, if you incubate it for hours. When eaten straight away, bacteria can't grow.

If bacteria can't grow after you eat it, then nobody would ever get food poisoning would they?

you can be poisoned by toxins bacteria produce whilst growing on food and which remain even after the bacteria are gone (e.g. cooked).

[Asterix]

The five second rule always applies unless you drop it in dog pooh.

Then you apply the two second rule.

[mcflurry]

The rule changes depending on how delicious the food is.

Chocolates or hand massaged Wagu beef has a 20 second rule, rabbit food has a 2 second rule

[Mastodon2]

Fishtigua said:

A spurious study has said that the 5 Second Rule is dangerous for dropped food. Yes it may be, if you incubate it for hours. When eaten straight away, bacteria can't grow.

Nothing wrong with the Rule, right?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21945313

You no have understanding of microbiology. If you dropped a piece of food on a dog turd, you wouldn't eat it, right, because you'd be able to see the turd on it, and you'd know it was dirty? So what if you drop food on something equally nasty, but you can't see it, because it's so small as to be invisible to the human eye anyway?

Or do you think that if you drop food on the floor, that the bacteria go rushing towards it and you have to snatch it back before 5 seconds is up or they will contaminate it?

The fact that someone probably got paid to perform this study at all is ludicrous. They'd be better off trying to educate the public in GCSE level biology, a knowledge some obviously lack.

[Goonowski]

I don't care how long my malteser has been in dog st. It's not going back in my mouth.

[Cotty]

If I drop food on the floor its the same as dropping a clay bar. Bin it.

[calibrax]

RealSquirrels said:

calibrax said:

Fishtigua said:

A spurious study has said that the 5 Second Rule is dangerous for dropped food. Yes it may be, if you incubate it for hours. When eaten straight away, bacteria can't grow.

If bacteria can't grow after you eat it, then nobody would ever get food poisoning would they?

you can be poisoned by toxins bacteria produce whilst growing on food and which remain even after the bacteria are gone (e.g. cooked).

Yes, but we are talking about something which has been dropped and eaten straight away, not something that has been given time to allow toxins to accumulate...

[simoid]

Do people seriously bin food if it's been anywhere off their plate?

Manning-up required.

[Shaw Tarse]

Do restaurant kitchens apply the 5 second rule?

[Mastodon2]

calibrax said:

Yes, but we are talking about something which has been dropped and eaten straight away, not something that has been given time to allow toxins to accumulate...

There are organisms which can cause food poisoning or pyrogenic effect with as little as 10 microbes on a piece of food. That in itself is mind boggling, considering you can fit millions of bacteria on the head of a pin. The "toxins" are already present in the bacteria, so you aren't waiting for anything to accumulate. Given that some of these molecules cannot be destroyed by oven cooking, what chance do you think your stomach acid will have at destroying them?

While I don't immediately bin food if it's been anywhere other than my plate, the floor is perhaps a risk not worth taking, especially if you own pets - anyone who has had real food poisoning, not the kind that gives you the sts for an evening, would likely advise caution as it's not much fun.

For practical advice on food handling, the FDA have some good publications. In particular, their "Bad Bug Book" is written about the main organisms likely to cause food poisoning. In this book, each organism has a chapter which is split into two parts, those for the scientifically knowledgeable and those for the "man on the street", meaning it has useful, practical advice for everyone.

You can go too far with food safety, but at the same time, understanding the risks is key to making a reasonable assessment as to how you want to handle food. Though I suspect that once you have the knowledge, you probably wouldn't eat off the floor.

However, I still find the idea of the "5 second rule" as some sort of safety buffer have any sort of validity or credibility to have some humour value.

[ThunderSpook]

Don't forget though that all bacteria can be killed from the food just by blowing on it!

Typed from my iPhone on the bog