The rule that food dropped on the ground is fine to eat if picked up within a five-second timeframe has been around for as long as we can remember.
Others with a more careful approach to what they put in their mouth will, of course, never touch something that they dropped on the ground for even a second.
Bbut people who do and who have abided by the rule will be glad that there is some scientific basis behind it, even if other scientists suggest
you maybe shouldn't risk it.
The Quick and the Curious, a new show on the Discovery Channel, enlisted the help of NASA engineer Mark Rober to explain the science behind it while conducting an experiment in a public park with some cookies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMck-GEk9N0
Clip via Inside Edition
What Rober essentially points out is that it’s fine to eat food that’s been dropped on the ground within five seconds if the food and the surface are dry.
It’s when the food or the surface is moist where problems start to arise and nasty bacteria such as E. coli become a factor.
But dropping a biscuit on the kitchen floor? Sound. At least that's what NASA says.
