Do You Eat Food off the Floor?

Published on Thursday, January 28, 2010, by Joyce Slaton / Edit Post

Riffing on a Connecticut College study that found that you actually have about 30 seconds (not five) to pick up and eat food that you've dropped on the floor before it gets bacteria-laden, San Francisco's SFoodie blog gives us "The 30-Second Rule: A Decision Tree."

If you've dropped something on the ground and you need to know if it's still edible, simply follow the flowchart to find out the food's fate. Funny, I can't help noticing that "eat it" is the most popular option—something I agree with, particularly if no one is around to see you picking up your lolly and clapping it right back into your mouth without so much as a token rinse.

Do you eat food after you drop it on the floor?

Already voted? See results.

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POST A COMMENT |12 Comments

COMMENT

  • That we even contemplate such things while folk are killing off species on the African continent in order to subsist on "bush meat" is telling.
    Better to finish the meal plan after a few seconds on spotless flooring than to have to cope with a carcass hauled through the jungle in open air, being used as a bull's eye for countless birds, an egg depository for who knows how many flies & a...+READ

    That we even contemplate such things while folk are killing off species on the African continent in order to subsist on "bush meat" is telling.
    Better to finish the meal plan after a few seconds on spotless flooring than to have to cope with a carcass hauled through the jungle in open air, being used as a bull's eye for countless birds, an egg depository for who knows how many flies & a petri dish for the lavatory-free (not to mention toilet paper & hand sanitizer-free) bacteria off the hands of those dressing it out and serving it up (which would thereby include me, wouldn't it?) LOL!
    Yes, pick it up, count your great good fortunes and carry on! '-)-COLLAPSE

  • Paul Balbin! Those ten words from you say it all- people are so silly aren't they! SO TRUE!

  • I wouldn't eat something dropped on the floor at a restaurant of course but then I probably wouldn't eat most of what is served me if I saw what goes on in the kitchen. They use dirty rags to clean up your plate before serving, don't wear gloves or hairnets- sweat off the foreheat drops into the dish- all you have to do is watch Chopped, Iron Chef or even Hell's Kitchen and you'd pretty much know...+READ

    I wouldn't eat something dropped on the floor at a restaurant of course but then I probably wouldn't eat most of what is served me if I saw what goes on in the kitchen. They use dirty rags to clean up your plate before serving, don't wear gloves or hairnets- sweat off the foreheat drops into the dish- all you have to do is watch Chopped, Iron Chef or even Hell's Kitchen and you'd pretty much know you're not eating germ free food anywhere. I prefer to eat what I cook! Dropped on the flloor or not!-COLLAPSE

  • It depends on where it is or what it is- whether the food is porous, what the surface is- it depends on the circumstances! But I admit I have eaten many a morsel dropped and never suffered for it.

  • I'm sticking with the five-second rule. Thirty...I don't care how many studies are done, that just seems TOO long.

  • What about comming home after hour, a couple trips to the restroom, still in your flipflops, cooking whatever, somthing hits the floor in front of the stove or grill where you have been standing. Thats pretty scary. Dont do it!

  • You're asking a guy who went to India for two weeks without getting the necessary(?) shots ha ha

    Food on my kitchen floor - no problem! But not in public ie. restaurant or sidewalk.. there is a big difference!

  • I do..... if you don't exercise your immune system it will atrophy.

  • DONT DO IT!!! THROW IT AWAY!!!!!! WAKE UP!!!!!

  • do you know how many germs/bacteria are inside of your body at all times, causing you no harm whatesoever?

  • Di you know how many germs/bacterias are on your floor, even after cleaning it? Gross, never eat food off the floor! We are not neanderthals anymore!!

  • Bacon--there's always an excuse to eat it.