Unpopular opinion: The 'five second rule' is actually pretty solid science, not just a gross excuse.

I used to think it was a total joke until I read a study from Rutgers University that tested it. They dropped watermelon and gummy candy on different surfaces and found bacteria transfer happens in under a second, but the type of food and surface matters way more than the time. So now, if I drop a dry cracker on my clean kitchen floor, I'll still eat it, but anything wet is a hard no. Who else has a specific 'floor food' rule they actually follow?

3 comments

3 Comments

julia_lee16d agoMost Upvoted

That Rutgers study you mentioned is actually why I stopped being so strict about it! I read somewhere that moisture content is really the deciding factor since bacteria basically needs wet surfaces to travel. So I'm with you totally - dry crackers on my tile floor are fair game, but anything sticky or wet goes straight to the trash.

ruby_rivera761mo ago

Honestly, people stress way too much about this stuff.

tessa_clark741mo ago

My buddy spent weeks picking out the perfect couch. His cat claimed it the first day and now he just sits on the floor.