Has the five second rule been disproven?

We all know that it is important not to waste food. £10.2 billion is lost annually ($ 15.5 billion) on wasted food within the U.K. The U.S. never even touches 15 percent of what they produce in food, which costs the nation $ 43 billion annually. Considering those staggering numbers, it would make sense the five second rule of picking dropped food up in the nick of time would be a vestige of the cash conscious. Nevertheless, a Clemson University study by food scientist Paul Dawson points toward discarding the five second rule like yesterday’s scraps, reports the Chicago Tribune.

Dawson: The five second rule should be a zero second rule

Since salmonella and other harmful bacteria can live on a dry surface for as long as a month, Dawson may be right. Previous collegiate studies used apples and Skittles on a college dining room floor. The apple took a minute to become infected, when the Skittles took four minutes more. Then there was the University of Maine study that equated the five second rule with reduced food waste and immunity improvement in children.

Dawson says location is key

The five second rule is arbitrary and meaningless, claims Dawson and others of similar scholarly bent. Kitchen and bathroom floors are littered with harmful germs, as outlined by nearly any study one would care to name. However, if a bagel drops on the sidewalk, it is OK to pick it up and brush it off. Amazingly, public sidewalks could be substantially cleaner, as they do not provide as many germ-favorable substances.

The psychology of five seconds

As outlined by the Chicago Tribune, how much a person really wants what they were eating is the real indicator of whether they’ll pick it back up. Broccoli will sit while Pepperidge Farm could be remembered in your mouth, claim studies. And here’s food for thought – studies related to Dawson’s work found that women were more likely to pick up and continue eating dropped food than their male counterparts.

Additional info at these websites

featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/features_julieshealthclub/2010/07/debunking-the-fivesecond-dropped-food-rule.html

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_waste