706. Puzzled About The Five Second Rule
I first heard about the five second rule when visiting the USA. Until then I had never thought twice about throwing away dropped food unless it could be washed. The city sidewalks have a layer of dirt, which contains stuff like spittle, vomit, dog feces. On the soles of my shoes, I bring particles thereof onto the floor at home. The thought of eating these particles causes me disgust. I would never eat anything unwashed from the floor.
When googling the five second rule, the result surprised me. There were dozens of articles seriously discussing the question, how many germs a piece of food gets contaminated with in a few seconds and how dangerous this could be. In most of those articles, the possibility of feeling disgust is not even mentioned.
Today I found another example of this:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140310102212.htm
I first heard about the five second rule when visiting the USA. Until then I had never thought twice about throwing away dropped food unless it could be washed. The city sidewalks have a layer of dirt, which contains stuff like spittle, vomit, dog feces. On the soles of my shoes, I bring particles thereof onto the floor at home. The thought of eating these particles causes me disgust. I would never eat anything unwashed from the floor.
When googling the five second rule, the result surprised me. There were dozens of articles seriously discussing the question, how many germs a piece of food gets contaminated with in a few seconds and how dangerous this could be. In most of those articles, the possibility of feeling disgust is not even mentioned.
Today I found another example of this:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140310102212.htm
"Food picked up just a few seconds after being dropped is less likely to contain bacteria than if it is left for longer periods of time, according to new research. The findings suggest there may be some scientific basis to the '5 second rule' -- the urban myth about it being fine to eat food that has only had contact with the floor for five seconds or less. The study, undertaken by final year biology students monitored the transfer of the common bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus from a variety of indoor floor types (carpet, laminate and tiled surfaces) to toast, pasta, biscuit and a sticky sweet when contact was made from 3 to 30 seconds."
"The Aston team also carried out a survey of the number of people who employ the five-second rule. The survey showed that:87% of people surveyed said they would eat food dropped on the floor, or already have done so
55% of those that would, or have, eaten food dropped in the floor are women
81% of the women who would eat food from the floor would follow the 5 second rule"
I am wondering, if those people following the five second rule generally feel less disgust, or if they are less aware of what is on their floor or if for them only exists and counts, what is big enough to be visible.
But after doing an extensive search, I finally I found one quote, where even an American expresses disgust:
http://www.drozfans.com/dr-ozs-advice/dr-oz-5-second-rule-debunked-eat-food-off-the-floor-or-not/
"Personally, I am disgusted by the idea of eating something that has fallen on the floor… the same place you walk with the bottom of your shoe… which is the same place that steps on things like dog poop. Yuck! "
