Apparently, The 5-Second Rule Is Bogus

Living with four boys made the 5-second rule not only a standard in our house but more a “minimum” number to go by.

As in:

My brothers: “Ah! I dropped my toast! Wait! 5-second rule!”
Me: “You dropped it on the floor a minute ago.”
My brothers: “It’s still good!”
Me: “Ugh. I think I see a boogy in it.”

Grossness aside, it turns out that all those countless pieces of toast, cookies and pizza slices that fell on the floor probably lost the 5-second race to good ‘ol germs. According to a study co-funded by Clorox and executed by researches at San Diego State University, germs often attach themselves to edible food items within the 5-second time frame.

The study placed baby carrots on several different surfaces such as a countertop, a kitchen sink, a table, a tile floor and a carpet. Reports revealed that germs latched onto the carrots within 5-seconds of contact. The dirtiest of the surfaces turned out to be the countertop, with carpeted floors following second and tiled floors following in third.

Of course, this doesn’t stop the reported 65 percent of parents who admit to telling their kids that the 5-second rule is kosher.

Truthfully, I couldn’t be more DGAF. Always gotta get in that daily serving of prokaryotic microorganisms!

Via ktvq/ Photo Courtest of Wiki Commons