Does this scene sound familiar to you? My sons are greedily eating Oreos and milk (something I now regret teaching them, as there are NEVER any Oreos left now) and one of them drops one onto the floor. “Quick, 5-SECOND RULE!” and scoops it up and shovels it into his mouth.
If you’re like me, I don’t recall ever teaching my kids that, nor do I recall ever being taught that, but isn’t it strange we ALL know the 5-Second Rule? The thought is that if you pick it up quickly, the germs didn’t have time to get on the food. And some folks even have further rules, like whether it’s a wet surface or dry. Is the food you dropped wet or dry? Is it YOUR floor vs a public floor? Some of you even have different time intervals. Some families, who are totally chill, use the 10-second rule. And some overly cautious families teach the 3-second rule. On the extremes, some just toss the food away and some practically eat off their floor. Like a former coach used to say, “I read the book of Judges ,and my name ain’t in it,” so I ain’t judging you. But I DO need to medically advise you on this.
Interestingly, all of this has been scientifically studied extensively. The timing, the conditions of the floor, the wetness or dryness and all studies come to the same conclusion: Bacteria latch onto food almost INSTANTANEOUSLY (Viruses are purported to be even faster – which my pea brain cannot comprehend. There’s a speed faster than “instant?”). And that’s just on a microscopic level! The hairs, and poop and loogies and all manner of glorious ground grime is just gravy on the taters, I guess.
So whatever germ you are trying to race, it’s time to face it. You’ve already lost. Cold viruses, flu, stomach bugs, pink eye, you name it, now have a chance to attack you. Being within 5 seconds may make you feel safe, but you are taking the same gastrointestinal gamble (which would be a great name for a garage band) as the person eating off the ground!
A smarter thought would be how clean is the surface on which the food was dropped. Gas station bathroom vs. clean cutting board is obvious, right? We all should decide our own level of risk. And yes, exposure to some germs is actually good for our immune systems. So, I simply arm you with this info and pray you make smart decisions. Heck, if it’s the last Oreo, I may use the 30-second rule.
Yours in Health and Christ,
Dr. Kirk, lead singer of Gastrointestinal Gamble
