We all know that one person who will eat anything, even after it falls on the floor. The argument for this is the 5-second rule, which states that dropped food is OK to eat if you pick it up in five seconds or less. But is there any truth to this rule?
Unfortunately, this rule is just an excuse to eat dirty food without guilt. Bacteria doesn’t know how to tell time, and when food falls to the floor, it becomes contaminated within milliseconds.
However, there is a difference between how dirty certain foods get. Compared to dry food, moist foods attract more bacteria. This doesn’t mean you have a window where food is safe when dropped on a dirty floor, it just means that dry foods aren’t getting as germy. Just how dirty is the food really getting? That depends on how clean the floor is.
It is up to the person who dropped the food to determine if they are willing to eat it. One thing to keep in mind, is the type of foot traffic that happens in the area where the food was dropped. For example, if the people who walk around your floor have just gone for a walk in the city, you might want to hold off. A recent study led by researchers at the University of Houston has shown that 26.4% of shoes carry Clostridium difficile, while a 2015 study claimed that 40% of shoes carry Listeria monocytogenes. It’s also important to note that dry floors are cleaner than wet, since salmonella, listeria, and E. coli cannot survive without moisture.
Keeping floors clean can be very easy with our line of floor cleaners, and a daily cleaning routine. Some of us rely on our dogs to clean up for us, but with regular use of these products, you’ll have a floor so clean you’ll want eat off of it. Sorry, Fido.
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