How Long Is Too Long To Eat From The Floor? Microbiologist Puts 5-Second Rule To Test

At some point in our lives, we all have experienced the moment when a delicious bite accidentally falls from our plates or hands and lands on the floor. Yes, it’s disheartening, especially when you are enjoying the food. At such times, you are often tempted to pick up that piece quickly and eat it. This is called the five-second rule, which means that the food is safe to eat if picked up within five seconds of dropping it. But is it actually safe? To prove it, a Chicago-based microbiologist, Nicholas Aicher, recently undertook a similar test.
Nicholas Aicher, a senior quality control analyst, has garnered a loyal fan base on TikTok for swabbing public surfaces such as TSA bins, movie theatre seats, fitting rooms, beauty testers and gas station pumps to test them for bacteria. Back in January, one of his followers asked him to put the five-second rule to the test.
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Nicholas Aicher placed a petri dish on the floor for different durations, from zero seconds to one minute, reported the New York Post. Next, he incubated the samples in a cultivator to observe if there was bacterial growth. The results were shocking. It was found that every sample developed white bacterial spots, regardless of the exposure time. This indicates that whether food is exposed for five seconds or a few minutes, bacteria can transfer to it almost instantly after coming in contact with the floor.
Sharing the results on TikTok, Nicholas Aicher wrote, “Looks like even zero seconds is too long.” Previously, Professor Donald Schaffner from Rutgers University in the US revealed that the primary cause of cross-contamination was moisture. He conducted a study with Robyn Miranda, a graduate from the university, in his laboratory. 
Speaking about the results, the professor said, “Transfer of bacteria from surfaces to food appears to be affected most by moisture. Bacteria don’t have legs, they move with the moisture, and the wetter the food, the higher the risk of transfer. Also, longer food contact times usually result in the transfer of more bacteria from each surface to food.”
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