The 5-Second Rule: Is it Real?

Here's a common scenario: You're eating a bag of french fries, and one drops on the floor. You look around, and if nobody is watching, you pick it up and eat it. If someone sees you, you laugh and say, "5-second rule!"

Here's another one: Your 3-year-old is eating an Auntie Annie's pretzel, drops it on the mall floor and starts screaming bloody murder. To avoid drawing attention, you quickly pick it up, make motions like you're brushing it off, and hand it back to him. And you avoid making eye contact with anyone in the vicinity.

So, is the 5-second rule real? Can you really eat something that has been on the floor for less than 5-seconds?

My answer is: it's all relative. Something that's on a gas station bathroom floor? Forget it--I'm not touching it. And something that has been on the floor for less than 5 seconds is probably going to be relatively safer than something that has been on the floor for 8 hours.

For moms and dads, I'm sure all of you have seen your toddlers find and stuff a who-knows-how-old-Cheerio-underneath-the-sofa in his or her mouth just in time for you to scream, "No-no!" And most of the time, there aren't any horrible consequences.

However, as an expert in infectious diseases, I have to say that there's really no such thing as the 5-second rule. Microbes are called microbes because they're micro, so you can't see them with the naked eye. And you can't tell if there's one nasty bug lingering on the floor or thousands of them.

But then again, I confess to having practiced the 5-second rule. Within reason.