Bad News For You, 5-Second Rule Followers

Yes, we’re talking about that 5-second rule. The one where you would drop a piece of food on the floor and quickly pick it up, declare the 5-second rule, then eat it anyway. We know, it’s totally gross, but chances are you’ve used this excuse once or twice— or perhaps your kids have. But is it really valid or just a bunch of bologna we made up to spare ourselves the drama of a fallen ice cream cone?

You guessed it. The age-old tradition of the 5-second rule deserves to be tossed out the window right along with that now dusty piece of cheese.

Researchers at Rutgers University put the theory to the test only to find that bacteria does not wait 5 seconds to stick to your food. In fact, in some cases, it took less than 1 second for bacteria to adhere to food! Of course the longer food was left on contaminated surfaces, the more bacteria were able to take up residence on whatever it is that you’re eating— with certain surfaces being more bacteria-prone than others.

“Carpet has very low transfer rates, compared with tile and stainless steel, whereas transfer from wood was more variable,” the authors of new study Applied and Environmental Microbiology found.

The Moral of the Story? The next time you consider picking up that potato chip on your kitchen floor, it’s probably wise to just tell your Kindergarten self, no.

Put down that smashed blueberry and instead look over these 7 Grown-Up Macaroni and Cheese Recipes the Kids Will Love or read How Kourtney Kardashian’s Kids Eat Gluten and Dairy-Free.

Opening Image: The Gold Collective for Mini Magazine