Five second rule

Did you ever wonder about the origin of the 5-second rule? You know, it is the folk wisdom that says dropped food can still be snatched up within five seconds and still be good to eat.

The New York Times has this column on the 5-second rule.

An excerpt:

I learned from the Clemson study that the true pioneer of five-second research was Jillian Clarke, a high-school intern at the University of Illinois in 2003. Ms. Clarke conducted a survey and found that slightly more than half of the men and 70 percent of the women knew of the five-second rule, and many said they followed it.
She did an experiment by contaminating ceramic tiles with E. coli, placing gummy bears and cookies on the tiles for the statutory five seconds, and then analyzing the foods. They had become contaminated with bacteria.

Later...

On surfaces that had been contaminated eight hours earlier, slices of bologna and bread left for five seconds took up from 150 to 8,000 bacteria. Left for a full minute, slices collected about 10 times more than that from the tile and carpet, though a lower number from the wood.


TK: I doubt if the 5-second rule makes it into GHPs for bagged salad facilities, but I have to admit I'm an occasional devotee of this contemporary folk wisdom.