# Is there any scientific support for the "5-second rule"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 12, 2005, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-scientific-support-for-the-5-second-rule/307966 "2005-06-12T13:54:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-scientific-support-for-the-5-second-rule/307966/21 "2005-06-14T13:32:01Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Aren’t mothers supposed to try to convince little children to be cleaner, not dirtier? When my mother taught me to “blow the germs off”, it was a matter of being pragmatic. She had five kids, and money was tight, so she certainly couldn’t go around replacing a perfectly good popsicle just because it hit the floor. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![PETERFI](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2bfe46/32.png) [@PETERFI](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PETERFI)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-scientific-support-for-the-5-second-rule/307966/22 "2005-06-14T14:22:33Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Yesterday at Mom’s house, an entire cheesecake took a nosedive when she tripped over the dog. Splat - half on tile, half on carpet. We all shared a dismayed look (no cheesecake?) before a chorus of “5-second rule!” as we lept to salvage what slices we could. > > Which, of course, got me to a-wonderin’. Outside of a greed for cheesecake, is there any reason to think the 5-second rule makes sense? Are there bacteria on floor tile which would be dangerous to ingest, or are floors considered dirty for no good reason? What about carpet? Does more time exposure = more contamination possibility? (would it make just as much sense to have a “5-minute rule”?) In something as thick as a cheescake I would usually go around the rule by taking a cake knife or other long knife and carefully slicing off the surface that hit the floor, under the ussumption that the bacteria on the surface of the floor did not have time to penetrate deep into the cheesecake. It helps if you wash your floors every night. But who does that. I hear someone out there saying “I do!” There’s a perfectionist in every crowd. LOL. Peter ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-scientific-support-for-the-5-second-rule/307966/23 "2005-06-14T14:34:31Z")
> [@Neurotik](#): > > You know, sponges don’t bother me at all. I think I keep the same sponge for months at a time. At least until it turns odd colors. I think I’ve gone through three or four kitchen sponges in the last year. At the most. Me too. I think that because I use anti-bacterial dishsoap and the sponge is submersed in that on a frequent basis that it should be good to go. I ony replace them when they get worn out. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-scientific-support-for-the-5-second-rule/307966/24 "2005-06-14T15:02:27Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > When my mother taught me to “blow the germs off”, it was a matter of being pragmatic. She had five kids, and money was tight, so she certainly couldn’t go around replacing a perfectly good popsicle just because it hit the floor. 😉 Has she ever heard of rinsing it off? ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-scientific-support-for-the-5-second-rule/307966/25 "2005-06-14T15:45:39Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Has she ever heard of rinsing it off? Perhaps the popsicle was not the best example; I’m not sure my mom would have bothered rinsing it, but it certainly _could_ be rinsed. Substitute, say, a piece of cake instead. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-scientific-support-for-the-5-second-rule/307966/26 "2005-06-14T18:44:33Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Aren’t mothers supposed to try to convince little children to be cleaner, not dirtier? Many mothers may not go by this, but evidence suggests that a little contamination and exposure to dirt/germs is good for kids and their long-term health. It’s what I keep telling myself, anyway. I am sure if my husband hears me mention the hutterites and their asthma one more time he’s going to scream. ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-scientific-support-for-the-5-second-rule/307966/27 "2005-06-14T22:32:11Z")
I’ve eaten things that have fallen on the floor throughout my life and I have not died yet, nor have I gotten seriously ill. I definitely follow the 5 second rule as well as gauging how clean the floor is and how wet the food that fell is. I don’t feel that this is a foolproof system by any means and I don’t take the fact that I haven’t died or fallen seriously ill yet as proof that it’s all OK. However, I feel that eating food off the floor is clearly not a death sentence. The 5 second rule and trying to gauge the cleanliness of the floor may well be entirely meaningless, but they can give you a sense of security that at least you did something. I feel like there _must_ be a difference between food that has sat on the ground for several hours (or days) and food that has sat on the ground for 5 seconds. Perhaps it makes little difference if it is 5 seconds or a few minutes, but it is just good practice to pick things up right away whether you eat it or not. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-scientific-support-for-the-5-second-rule/307966/28 "2005-06-14T22:49:50Z")
I’ve occasionally yelled out “Five minute rule” when it took longer than five seconds to grab whatever was on the floor. I’m not dead yet, so far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-scientific-support-for-the-5-second-rule/307966/29 "2005-06-14T23:49:16Z")
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