Re 5 Second Rule study says many more women will pick up and eat dropped food vs men

[astro]

Why?

Is it the anti-waste gene many women seem to have?

‘Five-second rule’
The Ig Nobel in public health went to Jillian Clarke for iher nvestigation into the “five-second rule,” which says that food dropped on the floor is safe to eat as long as it’s picked up within five seconds.

Her research showed many floors had surprisingly little bacteria. The conclusion: If the floor is clean, it’s safe to eat what’s dropped on it, even after five seconds. Abrahams said Clarke’s research also studied how the sexes reacted to dropped food.

“A lot more women than men will pick up food from the floor and eat it when they dropped it,” Abrahams said. “That’s unexpected.”

Eating off the Floor

Five second rule

The five second rule is a myth used to justify eating food that has fallen to the ground. The use of this term is generally accredited to various fast food restaurants which some allege to have endorsed such a policy when preparing food. Those who use the five second rule falsely claim that foods, particularly sweet foods, like cookies, that have fallen to the ground will not contract any germs until five seconds have passed. If they are quickly retrieved from the floor, then the individual will usually mention the five second rule before eating the food in the presence of others. Although it is unlikely that any harm would come from eating food from a relatively clean floor, the notion that germs from the floor would not reach food for at least five seconds is false. The rule therefore seems to have been invented out of convenience, and to prevent others from criticizing the habit of eating fallen food.

[ioioio]

Bullshit.

1. The floor ain’t clean.
2. It isn’t true that more women than men will pick up and eat fallen food.

My mom ran a convenience store for many years. There was a gumball machine next to the checkout. Mom used to say that the difference between mothers and fathers was that fathers would let their children have a gumball after it had been dropped on the floor. I’m going to trust Mom’s years of observation over the opinion of someone who thinks the floor is clean enough to eat off of.

Speaking as a woman…yuck.

[Shagnasty]

I have also noticed the opposite to be true (and I am a guy) although most younger people of both sexes that I know don’t have that much of a problem of picking something hard or dry from a clean floor and eating it. My wife and I certainly don’t think twice about it but when you have a toddler running around and dropping stuff, that it just a fact of life. A McDonald’s hamberger patty served up after it is dropped on the floor and walked over a couple of times is a little gross however.

[Frank]

I’m a guy and I won’t eat something that’s fallen on my floor. But then, I know where my floor’s been. My mom’s kitchen floor, on the other hand…

[Gala_Matrix_Fire]

Is this a poll? I’m a woman, and I’ll eat food that has been dropped on the floor.

[Blonde]

I recall that the scientists involved in this study put forth the theory that women pick up food more often than men because we are less likely to waste food. In my house, the four cats will pounce on anything that hits the floor, so I wouldn’t even get a chance.

[nashiitashii]

If I’m in my own apartment, I’m likely to use the “five second rule” because the apartment is clean. My boyfriend and his roommates, on the other hand, couldn’t keep the apartment clean for more than a day and a half to save their lives (One roommate’s parents live in absolute filth, the other roommate is always pulling apart mechanical and electronic items, and the boyfriend is an artist. One if not all three are causing a mess somewhere each day.), and thus I don’t even consider enacting the five second rule, especially since the cat or the dogs will get to it first. Of course, the five second rule does not apply to wet or sticky foods in any case, especially not when it’s fallen on carpet.

By the way, I’m female and see no need to get grossed out by a tiny exposure to germs… it’s part of how we build up our immune system anyway. (I’m not even going to go into the grossness that is female phobia of sitting on a toilet seat, then urinating while squatting over said toilet seat.)

[tsarina]

I always eat food dropped on the floor because I’m a microbiologist and I know full well that bacteria on a kitchen floor ain’t gonna kill me. FTR, I’m a chick.

[levdrakon]

I’m a guy, and if the food’s hard & dry & falls on a dry surface, I’ll eat it.

[hijack]My own unscientific observation about disgusting things women do regards women and their cats. Every woman I’ve known with cats will happily prepare & eat food within feet of their cats’ litterbox. They will also let their cats crawl all over & sit on the kitchen counters and then prepare food there. They will touch their cats, including the paws, and then prepare & eat food. They will put their silverware, napkins & hands on a table and then eat, where not 1 minute before their cat was licking its ass. I have photographic evidence. The photo is one of my best friend’s cats. That’s the butter dish at one end, and one of the cat’s food dishes at the other. Mmm, I wanna eat toast at her house.

Most guys I know, no matter how big a slob they are in other ways, will at least clean the area where their cat’s ass has been before using it to prepare or serve food. Women don’t seem to care. But leave your dirty socks on the dining room table & see what happens.[/hijack]

[cichlidiot]

Weird, I didn’t realize people invoking the 5 second rule (I’ve also heard 3 seconds), really believed there was something scientific in that figure. I’ve joked about it with my boyfriend, but never took it seriously. I won’t pick up something from a high traffic area and eat it, but if it’s in my kitchen, I just might. Depends on what it is and how long it has been since I last mopped.

[dangermom]

I would eat–or let my child eat–something dropped on my floor (at least if I’ve washed it recently enough), but I wouldn’t allow my kid to eat something off a floor in a public area. You don’t know what’s been there. So I think the convenience store mom was not seeing the same results she would inside the home. Though I’m sure if a dad lets his kid eat something off a 7-11 floor, he’ll let the kid eat anything!

Yesterday I dropped the last yummy bits of bagel with pepper jam on the floor. Yep, I ate it.

[PussyCow]

I will eat anything off the floor, provided it does not look dirty (and no macroscopic .insects have not crawled on it)

And I happen to know for a fact just how dirty my floor is as I watched my girl wiener drag her ass across the carpet on a daily basis.