The 'Five Second Rule' is no more!
But surely if it's only touched the ground for a second or two?!
Researchers at Rutgers University in the US have scientifically proven that the 'five second rule' is, basically, a load of rubbish!
They say that it's not OK to pick up food within the well-known safety net of five seconds, because bacteria can contaminate food instantaneously.
So, no matter how fast you pick up that piece of toast, bacteria will probably have already found their way onto it.
The lead researcher of the project, Donald Schaffner, found that there are many factors contributing to cross-contamination of food, including:
- moisture - type of surface - contact time
In some instances, contimination can apparently begin in less than one second!
The research team experimented with four different foods: watermelon, bread, bread and butter, and gummy sweets. They found that watermelon had the most contamination, and (perhaps unsurprisingly), gummy sweets had the least!
Donald Schaffner concluded that "the five-second rule is a significant oversimplification of what actually happens when bacteria transfer from a surface to food."
"Bacteria can contaminate instantaneously."
OK, we stand corrected!