Does The Five-Second Rule Save You From Getting Sick When Food Hits The Ground? Well, Sort Of

Do you ever eat food that's fallen on the floor?

Not in public, obviously, you'd have to be an uncivilized swine to do that. Can you just imagine how many germs would be on the ground of a grocery store or a supermarket? If you drop food there, you had better leave it.

I'm talking about when you're at home, and some of the Goldfish that you just poured in your hand spill over your outstretched palm and crash to your tiled kitchen floor.

(Yes, I subtly just admitted that I still eat Goldfish, even as a 24-year-old man. But we can’t completely divorce ourselves from childhood nostalgia, right?).

Now you face a dilemma. Do you leave it for your dog, pick it up and throw it away, or do you eat it?

For me, I choose the last option. As long as I follow the five-second rule (a highly scientific guideline), I should be fine, right? It’s not like I’m going to be eating any harmful bacteria that could make me really sick.

Well, that’s not what scientists would say.

Dr. Bryan Quoc Le, a food scientist and author of "150 Food Science Questions Answered," said that regardless of whether you pick it up five seconds after contact, it’s probably super contaminated.

"Bacteria, including pathogens, can transfer to the food within five seconds or less and grow on the food," Quoc Le said.

Yikes, that’s not comforting. What’s even worse is that a bacteria called Salmonella Typhimurium (which just sounds dangerous if you ask me), can latch itself to your food immediately on contact.

So, does that mean the five-second rule is no longer trustworthy? Quoc Le said it depends.

"If you have a weakened immune system, the floor is visibly dirty, or the food is wet, your risk of getting sick is going to increase significantly," Quoc Le said. "On the other hand, if the food is dry, the floor has been recently sanitized, and you're in good health, the risk of getting sick is going to be decreased."

Is that Goldfish that you dropped on the ground going to kill you? Probably not.

But you should know yourself and eat at your own risk. And most of all, if it’s been on the ground for more than five-seconds, don’t be a hero. Get another Goldfish.