Rutgers New Study Makes Us Rethink Five-Second Food Rule

The next time you drop food on the floor, you might want to rethink picking it up, and eating it. 

According to a new study by Rutgers University, bacteria contaminates food the milli-second it hits the floor. Okay... they didn't use those terms exactly, but you get the idea!

We've all heard the rule, if you wait five-seconds (in my case 10-seconds) food is still clean enough to eat. Well, researcher Donald Schaffner says the five-second rule is,"significant oversimplification of what actually happens when bacteria transfer from a surface to food."

Greeeeeat.

Turn out, bacteria reaches food pretty quickly and the longer the contact time, the more bacterial transfer. Moisture plays a part since it actually increases food contamination.

Meanwhile back in February, NASA says there's truth to the five-second rule!

I don't know who to believe. I just know if I'm home alone and I drop a pistachio on the floor, I'm not letting it go to waste!

Check out the study from Rutgers University in the American Society for Microbiology's journal.

Source: 6abc News | Huffington Post

More from SoJO 1049: