Five-second rule

For the basketball rule, see Five-second rule (basketball).
Strawberries dropped on the ground. The five-second rule suggests that if they are picked up within five seconds, it is safe to eat them without rewashing.

The five-second rule, or sometimes the three-second rule, is a food hygiene urban legend that states a defined time window after which it is not safe to eat food (or sometimes to use cutlery) after it has been dropped on the floor or on the ground and thus exposed to contamination.

While the amount of microbes transferred to a dropped food does increase over time, and in some situations floors may be relatively clean of pathogens, the scientific consensus is opposed to such a general applied rule,[1] and the origin of the idea is unclear. It is speculated to have originated from legends about Genghis Khan. It was first mentioned in print in 1995.

  1. ^ Skanulis, Leanna (2007). "'5-Second Rule' Rules, Sometimes". WebMD. Retrieved July 10, 2024.