In Britain, proved that the “five second rule” works for fallen food
MOSCOW, 15 Mar — RIA Novosti. Professor Anthony Hilton of Aston University (Birmingham, UK), proved the validity of the so-called “five seconds rule”, which suggests that food fallen on the floor is safe to eat if picked it up within five seconds, the newspaper Independent.
“Obviously, if the food is visible dirt, then it is impossible to take in food. But science shows that if there are no visible signs of dirt there, then the chance that food harmful bacteria got in the few seconds that she was lying on the floor in the room is very small,” said Professor Hilton, who has been studying bacteria.
However, the scientist noted that the risk is still there. “Not to say that bacteria can’t move from the floor to the fallen food,” said Hilton.
Held by the Hilton study showed that the amount of harmful bacteria entering the food, can be affected by several factors: surface type and kind of food and the time that this food was on the floor.
According to a public opinion poll of two thousand respondents, 79% confirmed that at least once they ate food that fell on the floor, the newspaper writes.