|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Tralfamadore
Posts: 10,343
|
|
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Tralfamadore
Posts: 10,343
|
Do YOU believe in the three second rule?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/ar...#ixzz2FabrKxV0
Quote:
To many of us, it is second nature to apply the age-old pseudo-scientific 'three second rule', telling ourselves we're safe if the food hit the floor only momentarily.
The idea that food is not contaminated if it is retrieved quickly has been believed for many years - but there has not been extensive proof that this is the case.
Now though, the doubt is out as scientists have finally investigated the theory to discover whether the rule is fact or fiction.
Five food items were tested by Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) to see whether the three-second rule could be trusted.
Bread with jam, cooked pasta, ham, a plain biscuit and dried fruit were all dropped on the floor and left for three, five and 10 second intervals.
These were selected as they are commonly eaten foods and all have different water activity levels; a key factor in whether items will sustain bacterial growth in the three seconds before they are picked up from the floor.
The study revealed that dropped foods with a high salt or sugar content were safer to eat after being retrieved, as is less chance of harmful bacteria surviving on such items.
Eating processed food from the floor poses the lowest risk - one of its few benefits - given that it generally contains such high levels of sugar and salt.
Both the ham, a salty product, and the sugary bread and jam fared well in the test. When retrieved from the floor within three seconds, the foodstuffs showed little sign of bacterial growth.
The dried fruit and cooked pasta, on the other hand, showed signs of klebsiella after three seconds - a bacteria which can potentially lead to a wide range of diseases such as pneumonia, urinary tract infections, septicaemia and soft tissue conditions.
Biscuits proved to be a food relatively safe to eat after being dropped on the floor for three seconds, five seconds or ten seconds, due to their low water content.
All case studies said they only embraced the three second rule when at home, with all admitting they would discard anything dropped on the floor when out in public.
|
 and 
|