Daily Dirt: You can officially disregard that 5-second rule regarding food

Daily Dirt for Saturday, June 14, 2025

Even if surfaces appear clean, there can be plenty of bacteria there … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 1,314 of The Daily Dirt.

1. It’s kind of an unwritten rule that most — if not all — of us have always lived by.

The “5-Second Rule” regarding food dropped on the floor asserts that if you gather up that dropped food within five seconds of it hitting the floor, it is still safe to eat.

True?

Well, according to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, that whole concept is balderdash.

UAB researchers believe they have debunked this myth, explaining that bacteria transfer can occur immediately upon contact.

“Bacteria can transfer to food the moment it touches a surface,” Jessica Scoffield, an associate professor in the UAB Department of Microbiology, said in a published report in early March. “Moisture significantly increases this transfer, and the type of surface and type of food also influence how quickly it happens.”

Dropping food is common, but how much of a risk does it really pose in terms of bacterial contamination? According to Scoffield on uab.edu, “The more contaminated a surface is, the higher the likelihood of bacteria being transferred to food.”

Writer Adam Pope reports “while surfaces like floors, tables or countertops might appear clean, they can still harbor harmful bacteria that are invisible to the naked eye. Therefore, it is always safest to discard dropped food, on any surface, to minimize the risk of contamination.”

Bottom line? If you drop it, ditch it.

2. Did you know (Part 395) that it takes …

• Netflix one hour, 37 minutes to make $1 million.
• McDonald’s 1 hour, 2 minutes to make $1 million.
• Coca-Cola 49 minutes to make $1 million.
• Amazon 17 minutes to make $1 million.
• Apple 5 minutes to make $1 million.

3. The best of “Found on Facebook” over the past week:

• “Bought a frozen fish dinner last night and cooked it. It was awful, tasted like codboard.”
• “I’ve been snacking too much. What if I just think about the snacks and not eat them? Hmmm … food for thought.”
• “I was confused when my printer started playing music … until I realized the paper was jamming.”
• “I put my grandma on speed dial. I call that instagram.”
• “What’s the best smelling insect? A deodor-ant.”

Steve Thought O’ The Day

When you ever think of all the things that “taste like chicken,” it’s kind of strange eggs are not one of them.