Do you follow the five-second rule?

Of course, if I’m outdoors or in a restaurant I would never eat anything I’d dropped. But at home I flit between following the rule and not. We don’t have a pet or wear shoes inside, so the floor should never be that mucky.

My three-year old son sometimes drops food on the floor by accident if he’s carrying a plate. If it’s something that’s easy to pick up, like fruit (which I will rewash) or a biscuit, I sometimes let him eat it. Other times I make him throw it away.

I’m not really sure what sways my decision, I think it might have something to do with how recently the floor has been washed. I suppose I know that some bacteria will have transferred on to the food, but at the same time I don’t want to shield him from every exposure to bacteria.

Is the five-second rule true?

The BBC and Queen Mary, University of London recently carried out an experiment to see if the five-second rule has any scientific support. They dropped a piece of pizza on a wooden kitchen floor, a slice of apple on a pavement and a piece of toast (butter-side down) on a carpet – each for five seconds.

The food samples were tested for bacteria growth and the results were pretty conclusive – each piece of food picked up lots of bacteria. The experiment even found bacteria on a sample that was dropped and picked up within one second.

Of course, it’s very hard to recreate the typical family kitchen floor and its unique blend of bacteria. There are some theories that say a bit of bacteria is good for both adults and children, but where should we draw the line? Do you live by the five-second rule or do you immediately bin any food that gets dropped?

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