The Five Second Rule for Dropped Food Is Not Always the Best Idea

Dropped food on the floor? We've all been there, and for whatever reason, we like to invoke the five second rule. It basically means it's okay to eat it as long as it hasn't been on the ground longer than, you guessed it, five seconds. However, it may not always be the best rule to follow. Do you know what happens to dropped food at five seconds?Well, roughly 150-8,000 bacteria will bond with the food in that time. Ten seconds is a whole different can of worms, because that's the length of time it takes for certain strains of salmonella to infect you. Yuck! And think about this: 93 percent of shoes are contaminated with fecal matter!!! Awesome, right?

Enter Michael Stevens of Vsauce who explains the ins and outs of the 5-second rule. Stevens does put a positive spin on this through his explanation that almost everything we come in contact with is coated in bacteria - and that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Stevens' video explanation is over ten minutes long, but well worth the time and very interesting and informative...enjoy. Oops, I dropped my M&M. Yet, it still tastes pretty good at six seconds. Wait, I'm starting to feel a little...