# Five-second rule! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 12, 2002, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule/118521 "2002-07-12T00:21:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule/118521/1 "2002-07-12T00:21:06Z")
Ok, in some areas, it’s the three-second rule. This came up in a thread a long ways back, but when I tried to search on “second” and “rule”… the thingamajig spun its wheels for like 15 minutes. But I digress. Anyone here heard of this? Basically, if you drop a piece of food on the floor, it’s still good if you pick it up within three or five seconds. Now, it doesn’t work for food you can’t just brush off. You **gotta** brush it right off. M&M? Yep, brush it off. Spaghetti? Nope, get the 409. Anyone else follow this “rule”? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule/118521/2 "2002-07-12T00:32:59Z")
No, I eat it off the floor anytime. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lodrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@Lodrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lodrain)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule/118521/3 "2002-07-12T01:09:31Z")
Five second rule never applies on a farm. But since I don’t live on a farm, it depends. If I’m really hungry and the food I dropped is brushable, then yeah. Otherwise, food goes in the trash. ---
**Author:** ![Francesca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@Francesca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francesca)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule/118521/4 "2002-07-12T01:15:25Z")
Also, if you blow on it the germs disappear! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule/118521/5 "2002-07-12T01:22:12Z")
\ The Five second rule refers to the idea that if a piece of dry food drops on a clean, dry surface you have about 5 seconds to retrieve it before it is too grubby to eat. Having just completed a class on Food Safety, stuff that’s dropped should stay dropped, imho. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule/118521/6 "2002-07-12T01:24:08Z")
Even jujubes? ---
**Author:** ![Crepitus\_Fremitus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19adc/32.png) [@Crepitus\_Fremitus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crepitus_Fremitus)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule/118521/7 "2002-07-12T01:31:38Z")
What I used to (want to) say to customers when they saw me picking up burger bun tops that I’d dropped on the floor at Arby’s and put back on the top of their Beef-n-Cheddar: “Don’t worry, it landed in a puddle of bleach.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule/118521/8 "2002-07-15T22:55:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\*Even jujubes? \*\* It’s been a decade since I had one, but IIRC, clean dry jujubes are still slightly sticky, so I wouldn’t eat one after dropping it on my kitchen floor. YMMV, unless you work in the food industry, then dropped = lost all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule/118521/9 "2002-07-15T23:06:40Z")
You forgot the Movie-Theater Corollary: if it’s too dark to see the floor, it’s assumed to be sterile and you’re not limited to five seconds fishing around for your spilled popcorn. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule/118521/10 "2002-07-15T23:17:24Z")
I have two dogs. I’ve never had an opportunity to test the five-second rule. ---
**Author:** ![robinc308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@robinc308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robinc308)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule/118521/11 "2002-07-16T00:31:30Z")
It all depends. The 5 second rule does not apply to broccoli. Or brussel sprouts. It does apply to chocolate or lollies, however, and could even be expanded to a 1 or 2 minute rule in such circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Victory\_Candescence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Victory\_Candescence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Victory_Candescence)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule/118521/12 "2002-07-16T00:41:22Z")
Doesn’t avoiding germs in your youth cause your immune system to cause allergies? I wish I could coherently explain myself. I saw a special on this on TLC or the Discovery Channel or something. You know, the one where that woman gets bitten by a wasp, and she’s fine the first time. Then, the second time, her bodies made a certain kind of antibody, or something, and she goes into anaphylactic shock and nearly dies. They said it was because she was not exposed to many germs as a young child, so her body didn’t make the switch to “adult” antibodies, or something. I’m not sure if antibodies are the right word. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule/118521/13 "2002-07-16T01:01:46Z")
Sure, I know what you mean. I guess in theory we can’t fight a bacterium if we’ve never had it - body can’t develop antibodies against it? Heck, I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule/118521/14 "2002-07-16T02:23:02Z")
Five second rule? Wuss. I live by the “Ten Second Rule.” Yeah, I’m a rebel, living on the edge. Oh, and **Neidhart** , I live byt the exact OPPOSITE rule as you. If I can’t see the floor I assume it to be as dirty as **Hell**. There is no way I am going to eat anything that falls onto a movie theater floor, I mean, my shoes stick to the damn thing. Basically, if it is dry, then anything that can harm me can be eliminated by blowing, I don’t even brush it off. I even eat wet stuff that has fallen on the floor…that’s when I break out the brushing technique. I do have my limits, though. (Of course, I won’t mention the time I cleaned my room and found a jelly belly in the corner COVERED in dust, brushed off the dust, and ate it. Knowing full well that I had not bought any jelly bellies in over a month.) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule/118521/15 "2002-07-16T02:49:16Z")
I would NEVER eat off a movie theater floor. Ever. But I am a fond proponant of the 10 second rule. Waste not want not, ys know. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule/118521/16 "2002-07-16T03:03:41Z")
I live my life following the **4-second rule**. Anything else would just be gross. Except during daylight savings time. Then it’s 3 seconds. And if I’m outside, then it’s 2 seconds. And if it lands in a litter box, it’s 1 second. Happy ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule/118521/17 "2002-07-16T04:04:03Z")
Re that litter box - used or unused? ---
**Author:** ![Pyrokatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Pyrokatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyrokatt)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule/118521/18 "2002-07-16T04:17:54Z")
We eat a lot of sunflower seeds in our house and sometimes dropping them is unavoidable, so occasionally I’ll come across the stray sunflower seed, say, under the couch, or by my bed. I find that they taste even better after having sat under something for a month or two. 😛 Anyone eat gum after it’s been dropped on a furry carpet? I only do if I’ve just started chewing it. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule/118521/19 "2002-07-16T04:23:56Z")
Ick. Ick. ICK. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule/118521/20 "2002-07-16T04:27:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\*Re that litter box - used or unused? \*\* Rule of thumb: more than three turds present and you’re better off getting a new cookie. 😉 Happy [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule/118521.md?page=2)