"Default User" > wrote in message
...
> John Kane wrote:
>
>> On May 11, 4:52 pm, Dave Smith > wrote:
>> > Zippy P wrote:
>> >
>> > > That's just gross. Are you telling me if you drop a slice of
>> > > peach or a meatball on the floor you're going to pick it up and
>> > > pop it in your mouth if it's only been there for 4 seconds?
>> >
>> > Why not?
>>
>> It seems to me that I saw a report from U of Manitoba where a student
>> checked this in public buildings. In most cases she could not find
>> anything on the floors, The 5 sec rule could just as well have been
>> the 10 minute rule.
>
> Mythbusters took a look at this, and determined that the one factor
> that had little to do with it was time. The size and composition of the
> food, the type of floor, the cleanliness of the floor, all were much
> more important.
> Brian

And the kitchen floor in front of the fridge was dirtiest of the household
bathroom, hallway, and some other couple places. In a related Mythbuster
show, they showed that toothbrushes in the bathroom picked up no more E.coli
germs than the control. Some E.coli is everywhere, but our bodies are pretty
well able to adapt. To that end, tho, I don't much depend on the 5 second
rule, unless it's whole unbruised fruit I can wash.
Funny story: when the Kid was about 10 he called me at work and said his
cupcake fell on the floor. He rinsed it and it got soggy, then he microwaved
it and it got worse. Luckily, he didn't stay home alone much...
Edrena