Five Second Rule Debunked!

Does anyone really think there's something magical about five seconds when it comes to food and the floor? There's a press release out this week (I still can't find the study) that claims that the five second rule is "real". It isn't. If bacteria are going to transfer, they do it fast. Plus, there is no evidence at all that actual health is affected by the time food sits on the floor. Watch Aaron recoil at both bologna and the mangling of science in this week's episode.
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John Green -- Executive Producer
Stan Muller -- Director, Producer
Aaron Carroll -- Writer
Mark Olsen - Graphics
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[@UselessDuckCompany]

I don't think anyone actually believes the "5 second rule", it's just a fun thing to say when you don't care if you dropped something.

[@BoredErica]

There are people who believe all sorts of things more ridiculous than this.

[@Gigaheart]

"The Bologna was already unfit to eat, because Bologna is gross." Best line.

[@BUD7H357UD]

I like boloney :P

[@Gigaheart]

BUD7H357UD Then why didn't you spell it correctly? :P

[@karozans]

I don't think anyone that uses the 5 second rule ever used it to justify eating a dropped wet piece of bologna on the floor. The only time I have ever used the 5 second rule was to eat something that was dry and hard that was dropped onto a clean surface. Like dropping a pringles potato chip on a sofa or a clean carpeted area. It's not like I would gobble up a pile of mashed potatoes that dropped on my bathroom floor.

[@oafkad]

Even the dog was like "That is not food."

[@Roenazarrek]

Then he shrugged and thought "Meh but neither is my own shit and that doesn't stop me" and then he picked it up anyway

[@jbg944]

Dood thats one of the greatest profile pictures i've seen on youtube.

[@oafkad]

Joseph Gevedon Thanks much. Friend made it for me a while back after it became my work persona as a community manager.

[@GengoNoTabi]

I believe that almost everyone who invokes the 5 minute rule does so in a tongue-in-cheek manner. I have a hard time imagining anyone taking it very literally, but....

[@MicroBlogganism]

People actually believe the 5 second rule? O_o

[@UnderDog280]

I don't believe the "five second rule" really works, however I generally still eat food that falls on the floor. I don't get sick much. Maybe I'm lucky, maybe I have a good immune system, probably a bit of both. Either way, I'm going to keep picking up food and eating it if I want to

[@MicroBlogganism]

UnderDog280 I do that as well, I'm just surprised that there are people who actually believe it take 5 seconds for food to get contaminated.

[@UnashamedlyHentai]

UnderDog280 I generally eat things with a hard shell that fall on the floor (like skittles), but not soft stuff (like cheese). I don't know if it's scientifically supported, but I feel like the additional moisture in the softer foods improves contaminant transfer.

[@teunvandenbrand1324]

***** If you don't immediately eat soft/moist food, the extra water can support the growth of bacteria. However, if you eat it straight away it doesn't make much difference. The contact surface probably plays a larger role than the hard/softness although I expect soft food with the same surface area to have a larger contact area than hard food. A bit similar to soft and hard tires on the road.

[@robmckennie4203]

I believe in the 5 second rule, but i don't think it has anything to do with "this food being safe to eat, and this food being unsafe"

[@prismatic5868]

I think I missed something. 99% of bacteria transferred to bologna within five seconds? Does that mean that bologna is an excellent way to clean your floor?

[@loralogue]

In Australia it's the "3 second rule" and I'm pretty sure most people know it's bullshit. On the other hand, I don't think any food in my house has remained on the floor for more than three seconds because my dog is always hungry. If you don't want to eat food off the floor, just buy a Cocker Spaniel. They'll eat things that aren't on the floor too. He stole an entire loaf of bread off the kitchen bench this morning while we weren't looking. We have a baby gate in the entrance to the kitchen because he's figured out how to open the cupboards. One time he even opened a tupperware container.

[@teagan_p_999]

My German Shepherd is the same. We can't leave food on the counter, but it's nice to not need to clean food off the floor, except grapes or chocolate, which we need to pick up quickly.

[@Phlowerchyld]

Eating food off the floor might not get significantly safer if you pick it up in less than 5 seconds, but is there any evidence that shows that eating food off the floor is actually dangerous in the first place? I've been eating food off the floor my entire life, on a daily basis. I've eaten food off the sidewalk, or off the seats on the bus. And I'm not talking food I've picked up after 5 seconds. I've eaten food that's obviously been on the floor for hours, days or weeks. I never get anything worse than maybe a cold 1/year. People are wimps.

[@Zaviex]

weeks? you shouldn't eat it period at that point

[@MissSagittarian]

Either you're really brave, or you're bullshitting us all.

[@CygnusExOne]

The five-second-rule works as long as you don't forget to do the complementary dance and chanting session. Granted, it takes way longer than five seconds though so... maybe... maybe it's not so good an idea to begin with.

[@cienciabit]

I think that the key is the nature of the materials (both floor and food). I would never eat a fried egg that has fallen on the kitchen floor, and I would eat an almond on that kitchen floor. But I wouldn't eat an almond fallen on the mud.

[@BioLuminary]

Yes bacteria immediately transfers from the surface to the food...but what is the infective dose? In micro we were pretty much told unless it lands and I quote 'in a steaming turd' it's probably fine. Food spoilage is the issue. Mostly I think it depends on the floor you drop in to and what the food is...

[@SoapyFae]

I never worry unless it falls on dirt or is sticky and thus can pick up floor dirt more easily. When i pick it up i say "35 1/2 second rule" as a joke and eat it. sometimes people look at me like i'm gross but food is food and when you're me you gotta take what you can get.

[@maxpowr90]

You would think the bologna would kill the bacteria.

[@Roenazarrek]

I'm pretty sure the 5 second rule is a joke

[@LividImp]

Science has spoken! Bologna is gross!

[@BUD7H357UD]

I like boloney :P

[@LividImp]

BUD7H357UD ...and it is your right to eat gross quasi-food.

[@IceMetalPunk]

I remember testing this as my high school science fair project. I made homemade culture dishes, replacing the hard-to-come-by agar with a chicken stock/clear gelatin mix. The stock was the nutrient medium for the bacteria, the gelatin provided a substrate. Also, boiling the stock first helped sterilize it as best I could in non-lab conditions. Then I dropped bread, cheese, and pepperoni on the floor, timing each for either 3 or 7 seconds, then quickly pressed them to a clean culture dish for a set time and covering the dish. I let those dishes stay overnight, then I counted both the number and size of the resulting colonies (which you could easily see as clear circles where bacteria ate the chicken stock). I took the averages and compared them. What I found was...no difference between 3 and 7 seconds. Not only was it not a significant difference, but some trials had MORE bacterial colonies on the 3 second compared to the 7 second trials. The interesting thing was that pepperoni had much less contamination than any other food, which I could only guess was because the spices on it had some sort of antibacterial properties...no idea if that's true or not. Anyway, I'm not claiming that an 11th-grader's science fair project is completely scientific, but it does seem to support the idea that the 5-second rule is bunk.

[@jeremyolson6419]

I'm sure you get a lot of requests for different episodes, but I had a few that I would really like you to do: #1 rough housing with your children; when can you start throwing them up in the air, should you be throwing them up in the air, does it help with parent child bonding, or is it just endangering children? #2 How clean should I be? #3 you were talking about one on dairy a while ago and that would be super interesting

[@tiesthijsthejs]

Aaron, sir, you and your team are a bright light in the dark that is called the role of science and scientists in their representation through (multi)media. It's strong content, great connection with principles, charisma and more control over one's own communication (and didactically effective) leading to very direct contact for the receiver. Thanks! I think Hank and John Green can achieve very important (though lesser wide-known) results if they'd find more wonderful and knowledgeable hosts like yourself and would help them speak from their scientific discipline(s). God knows, science needs it. You are a lone beacon in the sea of youtube.

[@healthcaretriage]

Thanks!

[@BenjaminAlexander]

Healthcare Triage I second this. Neil deGrasse Tyson does marvelously with the cosmos. But you do better work: you talk about how we know what we know. That's some powerful storytelling!

[@neil78b]

Mythbusters already busted this like 3 or 4 years ago...

[@Alexisjmarket]

I am really excited to here your views on the milk industry. I have read through a lot of articles online and i always come up with unconsistant answers as to whether milk really is needed in our diets.

[@jobberforlife]

I'm surprised there was no mention of the psychological basis for the 5-second rule, in which maintaining a line of sight with the food that has fallen is much more important than the amount of time the food has been on the floor actually is. That's the origin of the rule, as far as I've always understood it.

[@TechLaboratories]

I genuinely believe that the 5 second rule is simply an idiom not to be taken literally. It's more of a 'what to say to save face' type saying for breaking the taboo of eating off the floor, a taboo that arose largely out of the aristocracy as a sign of superiority. In that regard I believe that the '5 second rule' has had a lot of merit in helping us as a culture to cut waste food fallen on the floor with the recognition that it doesn't automatically 'spoil' the food just from contact. Naturally, it depends on the surface and the cleanliness of the floor, but as an idiom it's served us well as a culture to escape a taboo.

[@crowlovescore]

I never believed in the five second rule either I feel the floor is save to eat from, but I still try to pick it up as fast as possible so no one can step on it or actual dirt getting on it from people walking by etc.

[@anne-mareegray8762]

You know what worries me? Those intermittent auto-spray pesticide dispensers I keep seeing in ads. How healthy is it to spray poison into the room continuously? To kill a fly or two? No thanks. I'd rather eat bologna off the floor... well, maybe not. I notice the dog refused it...

[@TheCatsReflection-me]

i thought that the 5 second rule was an appearance/etiquette thing...

[@DustinDAmour]

If you have done your research you would have noticed that on that press release from Aston University it specifically states "Note: This research has not yet been peer-reviewed. If you would like a copy of the report or require further media information, please contact Jonathan Garbett, Aston University Communications." It then gives the phone number and email that you can request the report... I'm guessing you never requested that report from them, which if you were a scientist and wanted to recreate their lab tests you would. Peer-reviewed research takes a bit of time to get published and I suspect that it will be some time later this year that you will see it in a published form in a journal.

[@DuffinCaprousold]

I don't even really need to see this video, I mean...the Mythbusters pretty definitively debunked it. But, I'm still gonna watch cuz I love this channel.

[@Skipping2HellPHX]

Since this entire video nitpicks scientific procedure and data, might I point out that at the 4:05 mark a "1500 gram" mass is referred to as a "1500 gram force." Grams are a unit of mass, Newtons are a unit of force. Therefore, the experiment used a 1500 gram mass to apply 14.7 newtons of force.

[@DrivingOnWires]

Could you explain what expiration dates on medicines mean? Do they stop working? Less effective? Are they bad for you?

[@JakeStephensMrJakeStephens]

Seriously wanting the next video in hopes that it discusses the fact that milk actually doesn't do as much as what we've learned in school or even national commercials on TV/print media.

[@thes0mething]

It's funny how this seem to be a thing only English speaking countries say. When i moved to England i heard it for the first time and thought it was ridiculous.

[@jochemvanl]

The five second rule is just to make sure you feel a little less gross when you eat something off an unsanitary surface (you lie to yourself). I didn't think anyone would actually believe that it's something real.

[@PontusWelin]

I have never worried about food hitting the floor really. But I do tend to rinse it with a little water just to be on the safe side. What surprised me about this video is that time isn't really a factor. I thought that this was true in the sense that as soon as it landed on the floor the bacteria would be able to transfer. I did think that more time could make it worse. Now I know more. =)

[@janviiic]

can the food that's fallen on the floor be washed clean of bacteria by running water?

[@DenisRyan]

Also, I'd love to see a future episode on how taking vitamin supplements is not the cure for everything. I have early onset Parkinson's Disease, and everyone under the sun is telling me to take Vitamin B12 and Magnesium. It's actually quite annoying.

[@liathegreat1]

Huge question: is bologna "gross" due to bias or its production methods?

[@cyberdaemon]

What about airborne contamination? If i keep the food on the table for lets say 1 hour, how many microbes will land on it? What annoys me most is the fact, that no website or video talking about this "5 second" rule never mentions this at all! Your food has probably at least some contamination on it before it even hits the floor, right?

[@ruolbu]

I would be interested in a video about the health benefits that are discussed in books like The China Study about veganism. Do you think that is something worth talking about?

[@unFayemous]

Wait, people actually think that's a real rule? I thought it was just some sort of running gag

[@healthcaretriage]

Go look how many news stories there have been on this in the last week.

[@terralynn9]

I only say "Five second rule" so that people who are watching me eat food off the floor know it's something I just dropped, and not something I randomly found on the floor and decided to stick in my mouth.

[@Mncdk]

TL;DR version... If your floor is relatively clean, eat up! Or if you just don't care.

[@yourbabyscorpse]

You can't tell me there are actually people who believed this was true ...

[@SilentShadowPunisher]

I have a question : It is said that salt kills germs. If it's right, in how much time it will kill them ?

[@iameszie]

Isn't baloney about the best possible surface to prove your point? Would the results differ with say, an apple?

[@WaterPeanut]

You should do an episode on the safety/possible harm of GMOs.

[@drackar]

If you don't think the floor is safe...clean it more often.

[@NickCBax]

I vaguely recall reading a study that looked into the situations where humans applied the "five second rule". As I recall, they found that people only applied the five second rule based on the condition of the floor. People were less likely to eat off a floor that was more likely to be contaminated.

[@TheRectorscale]

I didn't realize that people actually take the 5-second rule seriously. I've always thought of it as a joke people used to excuse eating food that fell on the floor.

[@ShadowRevya9]

Mythbusters beat you to this.

[@Overonator]

Sean Graves Sure, but you got to admit, it's the most educational edutainment.

[@Timmie1995]

So did Vsauce, but still, it's useful info (even though it's pretty logical that the theory is bullfeces).

[@DenisRyan]

Sean Graves I thought it was "South Park did it". They seem to have an episode for everything. Given that I stopped watching when the gag wore off for me, around episode 6, I only have anecdotal evidence for this, though.

[@candibrie]

If I remember right, South Park did an episode about The Simpsons doing an episode about everything. But it's usually The Simpsons did it because it's been on so long.

[@sclair2854]

Psh, educational programming need to do the same thing a billion times, or idiots will never believe them anyway. So its nice to get them to reinforce each other. Especially after a study like this.

[@OurCognitiveSurplus]

Surely the question is 'do people who follow the 5 second rule get sick more often than people who never eat off the floor'?

[@MissEmilyElise]

I think every time I use the 5 second rule it's just for justification, never thought it was legit

[@caramelzappa]

I always thought the 5s rule was a joke that people used to justify being KNOWINGLY unhealthy.

[@bravicimo]

5 seconds rule is more of a way to put humor in situations where people eat the fallen food anyway because they don't care.

[@jklocport]

Thanks, I'm glad I'm not the only one that couldn't find the study.

[@JanelChristensen]

THANK YOU! At last someone makes a video about the grossness of bologna. Also that the five second rule is bogus. But mostly the bologna.

[@zbstof]

What's the deal with boloney?

[@UWBadgers10]

In this video it's a pun. Baloney = Bologna sausage or pretentious nonsense

[@buttmuddbrooks]

Thank you, Mythbusters did that years ago. You're really breaking new ground on information.

[@TheGurumash]

So Bologna was used in all these tests apparently... why is that? Well, they probably weren't gonna eat it anyway, since it's gross.

[@JakeStephensMrJakeStephens]

with the recent allegations of all the pedophilia and non-consent rape, Nerdfighteria MAY need to resort to bologna or potted-meat for a few months....

[@CBGB42]

Probably because it's uniform consistency and pretty flat, so it hits the floor equally.

[@CBGB42]

Jake Stephens wat?

[@Usmerchant101]

drops biscuit on floor, "Hey you going to pick that up" "im not hungry now i'll get to it in 30 minutes" "...."

[@nilmereth]

I like that you can see you previous takes on the wood floor :).

[@WhiteNight630]

in future episode, could you talk about fluoride in our water system?

[@jliller]

Topic request for a future show: are doctors in America overpaid?

[@InorganicVegan]

Not paid enough, if you ask me. Meanwhile, "reality" TV show personalities become millionaires.

[@Thutil]

Diana Peña I'd say they're paid appropriately. They have a rare and highly-valued skill set, and they're paid enough to be considered a fairly wealthy profession. Really, I'd say that "reality" TV "stars" are just overpaid.

[@lePKfrank]

Lol i just love how the dog ignores the baloney.

[@Kat22Kit]

I would never eat any food off the floor. One of my $100 per capsule medications falls on the floor, I rub it off and hope for the best. Yay American healthcare system! #sacrasm

[@Jaenaria]

I'm curious about the milk industrial complex video when will that be out?

[@kimberlybeth7689]

Now I need to know whether or not I should worry about the floor? How likely is it that there will be salmonella on my floor? How resistant is it common cleaning products?

[@howarthe1]

(1:30) "She also found that floors were, in general, rarely contaminated with bacteria."

[@msmead26]

bologna is so gross that even the dog didn't eat it...

[@Aldo_raines]

How effective are homeopathic remedies like the oils from cinnamon, clove, and other spices and herbs at releasing pain, helping clogged sinuses, ect.? There are companies that claim "scientific evidence" of their effectiveness. Could you examine and discuss this?

[@XOXHyuugaNejiXOX]

I have a question that I've always wondered on and no doctor so far can give me a strait or even an understandable answer so far. I was raised to believe that our immune system's build up and strengthen over time. But to do this, like muscle, it needed to be worked. So in a normal, healthy person, age 5 to about 45, being exposed to low risk germs and even catching colds and so on aren't a horrible thing. Sure it sucks at the time, but it will help build the immune system. I ask this question because I have worked in the daycare system and worked with young children for a while now, and lately, the public school system demands that every time we have an interaction with a child, we wash our hands or use hand sanitizer to reduce the risk of spreading things like flu, chicken pocks, and even the common cold. I even know parents who will wipe down surfaces that haven't even been touched twice a day to 'make sure there are no harmful germs to get their kids sick'. I'm not arguing against good hygene. Wash your hands after using the bathroom, blowing your nose or the nose of your kids, and when you come in from outside to reduce the risk of serious infection. I get that. But the amount of sanitization that is required is almost like keeping the children in a 100% germ free environment. An exaggeration, yes. But I was taught as a kid growing up that contact with those every day germs helps build our immune system's, making them stronger against more serious infections (even though it wont completely stop them). So my question is this. Barring someone (child or adult) with a very weak immune system, likely caused by another sickness, is too much sanatization actually making our immune systems weaker, and if so, how much is too much sanitization?

[@ShmuelYonah]

You are one of my personal heroes. I mean that in all seriousness.

[@mysteepulcine2510]

My daughter dropped a whole piece of cake on the floor at her birthday party. My fiancee's reaction was "Is there cat hair on it?" *face palm*

[@JosephBeckW0W]

Ya'll need to paint your drywall. Unless you're product placing Lowe's

[@vonigner]

Most kitchen floors are clean enough for you to let the thing sit there for a whole hour and it's still safe. However in most fridges...

[@Azivegu]

how about leaving something in your hands for an hour? That seems like a bad idea

[@sclair2854]

The study was meant to be in the journal of applied microbiology. Did you check there? Don't really believe the study but would like to hear you review/debunk the study when you can.

[@TheBohrokMan]

Great video! I am very much looking forward to the video on the "Milk Industrial Complex" ^-^

[@DrPonner]

I only used the 2 second rule to justify me eating something that fell on the floor, I don'y like leaving things to waste...

[@MrDylan2125]

Thank you for not giving into the hype and putting out a video that rebuts this insane claim.

[@wyattkayne4034]

Really looking forward to next week's video on dairy

[@wyattkayne4034]

I hope "milk industrial complex" is just a sophisticated way of saying you will tell us whether or not dairy is bad.

[@zEropoint68]

shush. bologna's awesome.

[@BenjaminAlexander]

It's best fried!

[@Harm10412]

2:35 did somebody leave some grease marks from "test throws" on that floor?!

[@timetuner]

Does a dish washer do anything beneficial to dishes that have already been hand washed?

[@Eric_D_6]

it calms down hypochondria, but if you properly hand wash it then only that.

[@jaimie00]

Most bacteria needs to be washed in 140ºF (60°C) water to effectively kill it. You can't get that kind of heat from hand washing dishes, but a dishwasher provides that heat every time (if it's working properly). So, yes, there is a clear benefit.

[@timetuner]

Jaimes There's only a clear benefit if the bacteria that isn't killed off be hand washing cause illness.

[@Eric_D_6]

Abraxian Absolution Also, hand washing still gets rid of a large percentage of the bacteria, it just washes most of it away instead of killing it.

[@artstormingishere]

Hahaha I love your new teddy bear body in the back! So cute :)

[@DogsBAwesome]

If you drop say a steak on the floor and you are going to cook it straight away there is no problem. Oh and if a dog won't eat it, it's not food.

[@senppu]

I use the 5 second rule as an excuse because I just don't care usually. With or without the 5 second rule I would still eat food off the floor depending on the dirtiness of the floor.

[@unepommeverte17]

i appreciate your stance on bologna

[@SeraphimKnight]

Kitchen sponges are the grossest things in ever. Also the only reason to rush to pick up things on the floor is because dogs are really fast on these things.

[@alibabalady]

My rule is, if it's tasty food it's worth the risk! And I also trust my body most of the time anyway, I even drank water once from a river then found a dead sheep up stream and was fine.

[@HighKingTurgon]

People don't actually believe that before five seconds have elapsed, floor-dropped stuff is safe! It's just used to justify eating gross shit that in all likelihood doesn't actually do you harm.

[@BrianCoxDoc]

Vsauce and Myth Busters have other great videos on the subject, but this is a pretty succinct summary of published studies.

[@gracegood666]

i have to ask, are we not a little peranoid about this? isnt it one way we protect ourself by being exposed a little to bacteria in order to make a stronger immun system... to much clean isnt better.

[@RainAngel111]

in general, most floors are not going to have salmonella or other infectious viruses, unfortunately, your kitchen floor is the dirtiest floor in your house. but if you drop it say... on your livingroom floor, unless you eat your food in the livingroom all the time, or you have pets, it's probably safe to eat

[@Westlake62]

I'm from the UK and, I may just be ignorant here, but I'd never heard of Aston University before now.

[@alexrockclimber]

It's a University in Birmingham. Pretty small

[@hathejoker]

You know with all the food America has does getting another slice of bologna really a big deal. Like who wants to risk someone's health over a household myth.

[@sylvansorrow]

Personally I thought this was common knowledge and when people do say "5 second rule" they are saying it ironically knowing the time made no difference, but they are just going to eat it anyways. I didn't think anyone still really believed the "5 second rule"

[@bi1iruben]

The "official" announcement of the study must be that by Aston University itself www.aston.ac.uk/about/news/releases/2014/march/five-second-food-rule-does-exist/ but even this does not provide a link to any published paper, nor even suggests that a paper has been accepted for printing shortly. Worrying as you comment, but I wonder if "undertaken by final year Biology students and led by Anthony Hilton, Professor of Microbiology at Aston University" suggests that even were this dramatic change in food hygiene rules confirmed, then credit is not being given to anyone else. At best mean of the professor, at worse the students then did not contribute to the study design, consideration of its implementation and certainly not of the statistical analysis and interpretation.

[@bi1iruben]

PS loved the survey of people's current habits "87% of people surveyed said they would eat food dropped on the floor"... just missing minor details such as the number of people surveyed, and perhaps more importantly the interviewee selection process (?the participating course students, students at the Aston university, local kindergarten pupils or restaurant chefs - the first three groups would need a stern talking to by their parents, if the latter group then Health and Safety Inspectors have work to do)

[@ljmastertroll]

If you are going to eat of the floor, let me fill your glass by wringing a mop into it.

[@rubzlovespancakes]

Unless you wash your floor with just plain water and no soap, I'm pretty sure that's dangerous to suggest, and in no way a fair comparison. Most floors aren't actually that gross. Either way I prefer sitting on the toilet a little longer than normal (worse-ish case scenario) over wasting a piece of meat that an animal has died for.

[@IllinoisCitizen]

It's about dry v. wet. If the floor is dry, you are probably OK. Wet floor or wet subject? Don't eat it.